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Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345

October 22, 2019 / 01:01:09

This episode covers the unsolved abduction and murder case of Amy Mahalo Vic, discussing key suspects and the investigation timeline. The hosts, Nick and the Captain, revisit the case 30 years after Amy's disappearance from a Bay Village shopping center.

The episode highlights the initial investigation, including the involvement of the FBI and local police, and the extensive search efforts that followed Amy's abduction. They mention that Amy was last seen leaving with a man she thought was a friend, and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

Two primary suspects are discussed: Billy Stru neck, who died shortly after Amy's disappearance, and Harold Bound, who worked at a nearby horse stable. The hosts analyze the behaviors and backgrounds of these suspects, including Stru neck's suicide and Bound's questionable interactions with children.

Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize the lack of concrete evidence against these suspects and the challenges faced by law enforcement in solving the case. They also reflect on the community's response and the ongoing search for justice for Amy.

Listeners are encouraged to consider the implications of the investigation and the importance of remembering Amy's story as they discuss the case's impact on the community.

TLDR

The episode revisits the unsolved abduction and murder of Amy Mahalo Vic, discussing key suspects and investigation details 30 years later.

Episode

1:01:09
00:00:05
[Music] welcome to true crime garage wherever you are whatever you are doing thanks
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for listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always is a man who when he left for college told his dad okay
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you're the man of the house now he is the captain boy how he cried it's good to be seen it's good to see you thanks
00:01:01
for listening thanks for telling a friend ah this is great stuff captain today we are very happy to be featuring
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scissor kick by Kings County Brewers collective Casey BC this is a double dry hopped up I PA garage grade four and a
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half bottle caps out of five another great brew from some of our best crew here's a shout out to Becky in
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this show and sign up now yeah bastards and that's enough of the business all right everybody gather round grab a
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chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music] [Music] one of the high-priority leads the FBI
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is checking and Harry a man resembling the drawing of the suspect he left his job last Friday has not returned but
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authorities will not comment further on that Amy disappeared from the shopping center a week ago today and today FBI
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agents and Bay Village police were back in the center talking with people who might have been here then Amy reportedly
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left Bay Square with a man she believed to be a friend sometime between 1:00 and
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4:00 p.m. last Friday the shopping center was busy but few who were here remembered anything unusual about the
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man and the girl what went on was a ploy that was developed and carried through and it looked like a natural action
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going on it didn't look out of the ordinary at all today in that same 1 to 4 p.m. time frame
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officers were trying to jog memories of shoppers to possibly recall something from a week ago
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that they did not consider important then [Music] police want anyone else who was here
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last Friday afternoon to call them regardless of whether they believe they saw anything
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police also are seeking other children who might have been contacted by phone as Amy was by a man as a friend seeking
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the child's help in buying a gift for a parent you have had some of those yes we
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had how many aware of at least three perhaps more John Harrington Channel Freeman earlier this year in episodes
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308 and 309 titled Amy Mahalo Vic that was from June of this year we were able to do a detailed timeline of this
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case this is an unsolved abduction assault and murder case of a ten-year-old girl 10 year old Amy maja
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Levesque this weekend unfortunately will mark a sad anniversary it will now be 30
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years to the day that Amy was abducted taken from a small shopping plaza that was just walking distance from her
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middle school the abduction was not a violent one Amy did not scream this was not a snatch-and-grab situation a man
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calmly walked up to her and she left with this grown man this was witnessed by two of her classmates now for anyone
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who is unfamiliar with this case don't panic you don't have to go back and listen to episodes 308 and 309 before
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listening to this week's coverage we are covering this case in a way that these are pretty much standalone portions of
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what is a very very big story so what is now a 30-year timeline of a very big case you get that in depth in those
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episodes for those that don't know our setup captain you can listen to true-crime garage for free on anywhere
00:06:09
that you listen to podcasts you can get episodes from the last six months or so now we have been doing this great show
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thanks to all of the one for listeners out there for four years so the older episodes you can listen to
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those for free when you download the free stitcher app go to our website to learn more yeah some would say four
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years too long now I say all that captain to point out that we did an in-depth interview with James Renner the
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only person who has authored a book that is devoted solely to Amy's case that was
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way back in March of 2016 episode 22 the purpose of this week is to discuss some
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of the suspects in this case now the information you are going to hear today comes from many sources
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this being an Ohio case the two of us have been watching this case for a very long time but one source that we will
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use often is Cleveland magazine this here is from their coverage on the ten year anniversary which says the ami
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Mahalo Vic case became the most intense search for a child in local history involving every conceivable law
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enforcement agency and an army of volunteers federal state county and local law enforcement personnel logged
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more than 60,000 official hours and thousands more off the clock hundreds of promising tips were tracked
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down and dismissed 14,000 people interviewed a hundred and twenty potential suspects investigated in
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question intensely eight thousand leads pursued and abandoned the story was featured in major newspapers and on
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national TV shows like America's most wanted and unsolved mysteries two million copies of the ami poster were
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distributed that is in all 50 states and in Europe and all the way to Australia before we get to the suspects first
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let's get into some of the known impossible movements of the killer we've talked at length about the phone call or
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calls to Amy's home setting up the meet up at the Plaza I do want to mention it sounds to me that police and FBI leaned
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toward the idea that there was more than one call to a Mia but regardless there was at least one we
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have talked extensively about the abductor choosing Friday as the meeting up day let's get into the other phone
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call the call from Amy to Margaret so for those not super familiar with the case the way this works is Margaret is
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at work Jason Amy's brother arrives home from school he calls his mother at work
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like he does every day on a typical day Amy would arrive home before Jason and Amy would call Margaret at work each day
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when she arrived home as well on this day Jason is the only one to call and he points out to his mother that Amy is not
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home this is not of great concern as Amy told her mother there was a choir tryout
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that day at school okay then there was a second call on this call again Margaret
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and Jason they determined that Amy is still not home now Margaret is a little panicked and she's going to leave work
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early but then and this is according to Cleveland magazine article at 3:40 p.m. Margaret gets the call that she needed
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it's Amy calling to say everything is fine Margaret asks how the tryout went Amy
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said okay Margaret asks she said she had the impression that amy was calling from
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home so they talked briefly and then bye-bye see you soon that was the last time Margaret ever spoke to Amy now
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before we get into the experts of what they say about this last call I want to address this first for so many years in
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fact up until the last 18 or 24 months it has always just been accepted and understood that this call was made after
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Amy was in the company of her abductor now all of a sudden after all this time people are starting to call that into
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question I get it it's interesting to ponder but it seems extremely unlikely and of course we don't know for certain
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but we do know class got out at 2:10 that day Amy walked with friends and it only took a few minutes to get to the
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shopping plaza and most of the goodtime lines out there say that it was around 3 p.m. when a man
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approached Amy spoke to her and led her away so according to the cleveland magazine timeline we have 40 minutes
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that's a big discrepancy in time so I absolutely believe that amy was in the company of her abductor by this point I
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think the call was made from a pay phone a motel phone or somewhere the abductor
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lived or was staying the interesting thing here I think is you can put a cap on the distance that they could have
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been from the plaza at the time of this call and the maximum would be a 40-minute drive from the plaza now
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people who believe that Amy would have behaved much differently during that phone call if in the company of her
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abductor that's fair but it's possible that Amy may have been unaware that she was being abducted
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yeah let's remember this is supposed to be a secret shopping trip to get a present for her mother so she wouldn't
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want to give away the surprise yeah he could have allowed her to call and reminding her hey don't you know don't
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give up on this idea that we got this secret shopping trip to do SHhhh you can't tell your mother this now I've had
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some people question why I think that a payphone is possible or would have been possible here they point out and this is
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very obvious but very good too they point out if she was afraid if amy was afraid a payphone out in the open she
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could have just fled the abductor then and there but you and I can't than being children of the 80s we are old enough to
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remember payphones quite a bit and use them quite a bit when we were children and one thing that I want to point out
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is something that's kind of forgotten today that a lot of gas stations do you remember the pull-up payphone the one
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that was constructed in a manner that wasn't in a booth but it was out and it was in a way that you would just pull up
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with your vehicle you wouldn't even get out of the vehicle you'd pull up and you could punch in the
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number and make the phone call from sitting inside of your vehicle yeah this could have been a situation that he used
00:12:57
there what we do know is that a phone call happened we can't say for certain if she was quote-unquote under his
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control you know meaning he had a gun or a knife on her or he had already expressed a
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threat to her that would have kept her under his control right but again let's think about this
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logically are you gonna take that chance have her under your control she knows this is now abduction she knows now that
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she's in some kind of danger oh let's have her call her mother or do you keep playing it cool and yeah let's call your
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mother before we go shopping right either way we do know that the call happened we can only speculate what was
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going on at the time what the experts say about this phone call Amy checking in with her mother and the abductor
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allowing this call the first lead detective on the case Jim Thompkins said quote that's critical
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it bought him an hour or more precious getaway time for the man authorities were calling the unknown male expert
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analysts also believe this event reveals important details about the unknown male
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they are certain he was standing right there and that he may have known that amy was supposed to call now this could
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be from something he learned from Amy on previous phone calls or in conversation
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on the day of the abduction or even possibly Amy threatening him if in fact by the time she figured out that he had
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abducted her he's she saying I have to call home mom and dad will be looking for me you're going to be in trouble so
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some of the experts believe that he stood there and told Amy what to say during that call the latent great FBI
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agent Robert Ressler says it tells us he was executing a bold plot that included
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Amy her family and the police pointing out that the Bay Village Police Department headquarters is right across
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the street from the shopping plaza he goes on to say this is an intelligent man presentable well-spoken this is a
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complicated personal crime when Amy's body was found in that field three months after her abduction
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the County Coroner and the FBI scientists determined that Amy had been deceased for some time
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most likely the murder had occurred shortly after her abduction probably a few days or less she was not killed
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immediately Amy did eat at least one meal after she was taken maybe more her autopsy revealed blunt-force trauma to
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the head and stab wounds to her neck it appears that the blunt force trauma on its own
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was not fatal but the stab wounds were over the years captain there have been thousands of tips and hundreds of
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suspects and in the sense we are using the term suspects very loosely some of these men were just look alike suspects
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these were leads that the police received FBI received because somebody looked like one of the composite
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sketches right and we've seen this with like the Delphi murders somebody goes hey look this guy looks just like the
00:16:03
sketch or just like the photo but they live in California and you can't prove that they were in Indiana at the time
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yeah that that's why I don't like some of these suspects well and it gets difficult for law enforcement because of
00:16:18
two factors one with the Amy case with the Delphi case not a lot to go on so you have to throw that sketch out there
00:16:26
but they throw that sketch out to the public knowing that we're going to get a wealth of leads that are no good yeah
00:16:35
you know they they only need the one good one but we're gonna get a whole bunch of people coming forward saying I
00:16:40
know somebody that looks just like this guy in Amy's case and the Amy composite sketches we pointed out in our previous
00:16:48
episodes technically there were four composite sketches released over a it's a little more than a one-year time
00:16:56
period but there was a sketch released the first weekend and then FBI artists came in and did two sketches that appear
00:17:05
on the same flier and that's the one that I refer to as like the famous composite drawing where you see the two
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individuals now it was only one man that abducted her but we have two somewhat different
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looking individuals in that famous composite sketch one two of the eyewitnesses one
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claiming that they saw a man with glasses and one claiming they saw a man without glasses so that's where the
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initial I think confusion started yeah so the first composite drawing is basically a meshing of the two
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eyewitnesses accounts they were like alright we'll take we'll take everything throw it in a blender and boom this is
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the picture that pop that comes out the FBI artist did separate one so why the reason why you're seeing two different
00:17:52
composite drawings is one is from one eyewitness and one is from the other eyewitness both of these eyewitnesses
00:17:58
were children 10 or 11 years old both both of these eyewitnesses were not up front and center when they saw this guy
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they were a distance away 2530 feet away and saw this man interact with Amy the thing that law enforcement points out
00:18:14
and has continued to point out over the years is they think that this is a very quote/unquote general description of
00:18:23
somebody that it this this is not somebody that is distinguishable right this is not somebody that would stand
00:18:30
out in a crowd and that's why you get so many look-alike suspects because this kind of just looks like your average Joe
00:18:37
right now investigators said that out of all of the potential suspects ever to appear on the radar screen less than two
00:18:46
dozen remain priorities after acute investigating now early on on the local level
00:18:53
there was rumored to be two very good suspects in fact these men they were suspects even before Amy's body was
00:19:02
found suspect number one was Billy stru neck from Fairview Park he injected himself into the search efforts he
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joined the volunteers and helped to search for Amy he was questioned several times this both by Bay Village Police
00:19:20
Department and the FBI his story was checked and then double-checked according to Cleveland magazine Billy
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was found to have serious personal problems both medical and emotional but all unrelated to Amy's case
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after Amy's disappearance he consumed a lethal amount of ethanol dry gas and died three days later
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right but to be clear they believe this was on purpose and this was technically a suicide yes an FBI agent Robert
00:19:53
Ressler who was briefly involved in the case questioned this suspect personally Ressler maintained that he had a gut
00:20:01
feeling that Billy Stearn act was hiding something Ressler later cited this suicide as a
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possible indication of guilt and wrestler's book whoever fights monsters Ressler says stru neck was a good
00:20:14
candidate to be the one they were calling the unknown male now all other investigators insist that he was not the
00:20:24
guy Stephen ed er who was a supervisory special agent for the National Center for the analysis of violent crime said
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after his death meaning through knack we had access to his home and belongings FBI agent dick ran ads there was not a
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shred of evidence for this or any other crime etter says that Billy Stearn act quote simply didn't have the capacity to
00:20:52
commit this type of crime some in the local community believe he still could have been the guy we covered this angle
00:21:01
of the investigation in depth on our other show off the record yeah now I have a couple issues with the detectives
00:21:08
the investigators saying that they don't think Billy was capable of doing this because most people probably wouldn't be
00:21:17
capable of dying from a suicide by ingesting gasoline right gas so that takes a determined individual and I also
00:21:32
think just his involvement in the search the involvement in the investigation the
00:21:37
contact with the mother and and like you said their big thing is but once he died
00:21:44
from this suicide and Ressler is saying well I believe he's basically saying right
00:21:51
because there's a suicide he believes that Billy had something to hide it might have been an indication of
00:21:56
guilt then he was overcome by guilt or he was afraid that he was going to be arrested and people were gonna find out
00:22:05
what kind of monster he was and he's gonna have to spend the rest of his life behind bars any number of those reasons
00:22:11
or all them together would have been enough for this individual to commit suicide is what Ressler believes right
00:22:18
and then so now you have these investigators go well he's dead now and so we can investigate his property but
00:22:24
we didn't find any evidence of any crime I don't know why but my gut has always told me that this crime was the first
00:22:34
uh-uh as far as a killing would go by this individual there might be some inappropriate touching or looking or
00:22:45
possibly even exposing themselves to younger individuals but to me this is a this is a one-time thing possibly never
00:22:57
going to happen again and and so that would lead me to believe well look at somebody like Billy and he makes a
00:23:05
really good suspect and then there you go well what we investigated his house and his property and all that stuff and
00:23:11
we didn't see any sign of a crime well but here's what we do know we know that there's a crime scene I would call it
00:23:20
crime scene where he abducted her even though she went willing I'd still call that a crime scene and then we know that
00:23:27
she went into a vehicle to me those are the two crime scenes and then plus where
00:23:33
her body was found those are the three places that we know we don't have much evidence to suggest that she went back
00:23:42
to his house or way to anybody's house mm-hm so I'm just saying that you can be searching in this location but it's like
00:23:51
again what if a Heuer saying what if the phone call was made from a hotel or motel and yeah so it's like you wouldn't
00:24:02
find any evidence at his because he never took the victim back there mm-hmm so look we can't we could
00:24:12
sit here and spin our tires all day and try to figure out why we have the FBI and we have other agencies later saying
00:24:20
that he Billy Stearn AK is not our guy they're not going to give us all those reasons what I will say though - right
00:24:27
but it's not as clear that we we don't have like some strain of DNA that we can test to make sure that it's it's Billy
00:24:34
or not Billy right correct there is physical evidence in this case but we do not have we do not have DNA evidence
00:24:42
that we can test in the sense of current types of investigations so but but here's here's the thing we got it we got
00:24:51
to keep in mind while we're going through the suspects okay so these same the same investigators or at least the
00:24:58
same agencies are on record over the years as saying we're not going to 100% rule out anyone and we hear that like
00:25:08
with the Delphi case now we can take that for their word we can take that for what that is supposed to mean we don't
00:25:16
know exactly what that means behind closed doors and behind these closed door meetings that they're having
00:25:21
regarding the suspects when they say that look I I think that if we're if we were going to create a top-10 list of
00:25:31
top 10 suspects in this case I didn't just go through and pick out suspects that were mentioned in the
00:25:38
newspaper or mention and local rumor or anything like that I went through there was there's more than ten of those I
00:25:44
went through and I picked out ones that I believe should remain on some kind of top ten list now this is just our own
00:25:51
little garage list here but I would leave Billy strewn AK on that list until I had further information to lead me to
00:25:58
believe that they are in fact right that he's not their guy they could have come
00:26:02
across some things to say that he had a 100% ironclad alibi right for that day we don't we don't know that because
00:26:09
that's never been said in the public they also one thing that I do want to to comment directly on though is where they
00:26:18
say we simply don't believe that he had the capacity to commit this type of crime
00:26:24
now you pointed out that he consumed ethanol and killed himself and that takes a certain something I guess but it
00:26:33
takes us something well but what what they may mean here in this is not so much that he couldn't have physically
00:26:41
committed this type of crime they may firmly believe that he was of an emotional state or he was he had these
00:26:50
personal problems they may fully believe that he could have physically committed
00:26:54
this type of crime he wouldn't have been able to not crack or not tell someone or
00:27:00
not comfort you see what I mean like that right not only did this crime happen but the person as far as we know
00:27:07
has also never confided in anyone never confessed to it never never had a mental
00:27:12
break in just and just came clean or or freaked out so that might be what in fact that they mean on this and again
00:27:21
though yes there there is a crime scene that we are unaware of there was a place
00:27:27
that she was killed that's the missing puzzle piece here but what we have dick Wren saying is there was not a shred of
00:27:35
evidence for this crime or any other crime that they could find at his home or in the belongings that they were able
00:27:42
to view now there is local rumor in the area that and we have wrestler who's on record saying this I don't know that
00:27:52
it's in fact true but we have local rumor that the family removed his items or had access to his apartment before
00:28:04
law enforcement did after his death because they weren't right they weren't fully aware that he was dead at that you
00:28:11
know immediately after his death it took some time for that word to travel to them before they went
00:28:16
in and looked at his apartment so there's local rumor that it's like a it's a really good family secret you
00:28:26
know a best kept family secret that Billy's runic did in fact kill Amy Mahalo Vic and his whole family knows
00:28:32
and they know about it because they were able to view all of his belongings but what we would know later is that there
00:28:38
are things missing from the crime scene there were items that Amy had on her person that have never been found never
00:28:45
been located and we know for certain from dick wrens statement that they didn't find those items in the
00:28:51
belongings or in the space that they were able to view regarding Billy's Runet right which makes me wonder if the
00:28:58
crime scene was a vehicle those items could have been left in that vehicle that vehicle could have been discarded
00:29:04
with all those items but one of the things I like about Billy is when she went missing him was a suspect when her
00:29:12
body was found he he was a suspect and I believe today he still is a really good
00:29:17
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GC alright we're back cheers mates cheers to everyone so suspect number two and in fact he may have been one of the
00:33:59
very first suspects even more so than Billie strewn egg he worked at the horse stable where Amy went horseback riding
00:34:07
on the weekends some say he looks like the composite sketch personally I think that is debatable
00:34:16
I would say his appearance was vaguely similar to one of the composite sketches so this is at the Holly Hill Farms
00:34:24
riding stable where he works amy was an avid horse rider she took lessons for two years and her favorite
00:34:31
horse at Holly Hill was named razzle Holly Hill farms which is no longer there but was for many years in fact it
00:34:39
was just in the last few years that Holly Hill closed for good selling off all of the farmland to make room for new
00:34:47
housing developments Holly Hill farms was located on an angle road and the old address lists the farm as in Avon Lake
00:34:57
but if you look at it on a map it was very close to where several communities meet you have Avon Lake Westlake and Bay
00:35:06
Village angle road was not far from the train tracks that ran behind the Mahalo deck home
00:35:13
in fact the night that Amy went missing police and mark Mahalo Vic and friends were actually looking for Amy around
00:35:21
those train tracks that was one area that they really focused on because Amy would ride her bike there and go back
00:35:29
there and go back there with friends from the neighborhood so that was one area that if you could find her if there
00:35:35
was a reasonable explanation as to why she was missing if she was out on her own playing they thought they might find
00:35:42
her there this the the night that she went missing now at this time they're still trying to explain away why she is
00:35:54
missing right there that no one was aware of the ruse used by the predator to lure her to the shopping plaza right
00:36:01
that info was not learned by the police department until Saturday morning that's
00:36:06
when the case officially went from a missing-persons case to a kidnapping and the FBI was immediately called in now
00:36:13
most of that area back in 1989 was farmland the man that we are talking about the suspect his name was Harold
00:36:23
bound he actually lived at the riding stables where Amy went weekly this dude jumps on the radar for several reasons
00:36:33
first early on investigators were fully focused on the call to Amy's house the ruse for the meet up and abduction
00:36:41
information in the call again could offer insights to who the perpetrator was they were working off of the idea at
00:36:50
the time that the abductor may have known Amy Margaret or both persons involved with Holly Hill stables would
00:37:00
have known Amy and Margaret Margaret actually would ride horses there as well this man Harold bound he was the son of
00:37:09
the owners of Holly Hill according to what I could find he was a Vietnam vet and he lived in an apartment above the
00:37:17
garage at Holly Hill it seems that he was an avid hunter stories have been told of persons going to the stables for
00:37:26
riding lessons and seeing Herald what they said was he's wandering around and camouflage
00:37:32
with a bow and arrow mm-hmm some I think thought this was weird maybe I mean maybe he was just hunting really from
00:37:41
the stories I could find about his behavior it's really a mixed bag right so some of the girls at Holly Hill said
00:37:48
things like we thought he was creepy even before Amy went missing others said he was strange but thought
00:37:56
that he suffered from PTSD from the war years later his brother Greg would say that Harold was a suspect for a couple
00:38:05
of reasons Greg says law enforcement said that Amy was taken away in a blue pickup truck the farm owned a blue
00:38:13
pickup this from my understanding was a shared farm vehicle and Greg says Harold
00:38:19
came home late on the night that amy was abducted Harold bounds parents who owned the farm
00:38:26
and lived on the property this kind of adds to to the whole scenario here they were actually out of town when she was
00:38:35
abducted they were down in Florida for that weekend which would make make sense you know parents are out of town that's
00:38:41
where you're staying this is a perfect opportunity right and we both believe that the abductor picked that Friday for
00:38:49
some reason law investigators also said here's a guy that probably left work and
00:38:55
then probably didn't return so but that that would still put him in that category right right and to be clear I
00:39:05
believe in that clip that we heard there's they're talking about a different individual not Harold bound
00:39:11
right right right but the interesting thing here is and he lives on that property and works there his parents are
00:39:19
the owners they're gone they're out of town yeah there would have been other people in and out of Holly Hill farm
00:39:25
that day that weekend but he doesn't really does he need to be accounted for no right I mean he becomes it goes as he
00:39:35
pleases correct now James Renner says when he first he actually interview or spoke to Harold on at least two
00:39:44
occasions he says that when first asked Harold says he didn't know Amy from any of the other students at the stable then
00:39:53
later Harold tells Renner a very specific story about a time that he saw Amy at the stable and asked her a question so
00:40:02
this is completely different stories from the same guy about the same situation two completely different
00:40:08
answers one to say I wouldn't have known her from any of the other girls to then
00:40:13
go into a very specific story about a time where he had an interaction with Amy right Harold was questioned by the
00:40:20
FBI the day after Amy was abducted well that's what we say I'm a little unclear here captain if it was in fact that
00:40:29
Saturday because remember that V I was called in that Saturday it says that Harold was interviewed the day after she
00:40:36
was abducted but it could have been that Sunday regardless it's going to be that
00:40:40
first weekend he's questioned very early on during this whole situation he's questioned at his apartment and he did
00:40:49
allow the FBI agents and the officers to come into his apartment and he also allowed them to look around yeah not
00:40:57
only look around his apartment but also look around the farm property and inside
00:41:01
of his parents home the FBI agents left and when they left they took nothing with them
00:41:08
the feds questioned Harold bound multiple times the first week that Amy was missing Harold did not like the
00:41:15
treatment from law enforcement that he was getting so he gathered up some of his things and he went and checked
00:41:23
himself into a local VA hospital some suspect he was trying to put up a wall between him and law enforcement ray his
00:41:33
brother says that Harold believed that they were trying to pin this abduction on him
00:41:39
and he he was he got afraid and so he went and checked himself into this VA hospital well yeah and think about this
00:41:47
way you're working on this farm you come back from war you know you're a little off or maybe you don't know you're a
00:41:53
little off you're working around a lot of children and one of them comes up missing mm-hm
00:41:59
and and maybe and you're kind of considered by at least some of the students to be the weird guy for the
00:42:06
creepy guy right but how many times you know as a school had a janitor where the
00:42:12
guy is nothing but nice but kids create you know rumors all that guy's a little strange no he's not being strange is
00:42:21
this saying hello to you or saying hi to you but but those rumors and speculations grow over time too well and
00:42:33
that's the thing too the the I wanted to point out where some of the kids at Holly Hill claimed the guy was creepy or
00:42:41
doing weird things sometimes things are just weird because you're a child and you don't understand a situation right
00:42:49
you know like you see this dude that's wandering around in camouflage and he has a bow and arrow and you're like
00:42:54
what's that guy always doing here right and and then but but as an adult somebody would know a couple things one
00:43:01
he he lives on the property so he should be there there's no reason for him not to be there right - he's a hunter and
00:43:08
this is this is a large property that his parents owned this is private land it's farmland
00:43:14
he is allowed to hunt there right you know so as an adult that doesn't seem so weird as a kid not gonna lie man if I
00:43:24
show up to ride a horse and there's some dude walking around stealth like in the
00:43:28
woods and camouflage with a bow and arrow I'm going I'm staying away from that dude yeah or the fact that every
00:43:34
time you show up he's there you go hey hey well why is this guy always here why is he always at work oh well he lives
00:43:41
there or take this a scenario where a guy comes in to clean an area and maybe doesn't say hello to the kids because
00:43:49
he's trying to stay out of the way some kids will take that as all this guy's being really creepy you didn't say hello
00:43:57
yeah so where we look at Harald bound and say does he look guilty does he sound guilty I go with looking guilty I
00:44:07
would say no but sounding guilty I think yes because of the that to me if if in fact
00:44:14
that's true the in one conversation he claims to not have known Amy at all and then another conversation says he had
00:44:23
direct interaction and names her specifically right but that's that sounds a little weird but that's not
00:44:30
coming from law enforcement or investigators says yeah from James run and you never know it could have jogged
00:44:36
his memory but you also kind of think well if I lived on a property where a young girl frequented and she went
00:44:44
missing and then was later found dead I don't know that I would forget her so I don't know that I would need something
00:44:49
to jog my memory now captain I will say this the you know back to the famous composite drawing of
00:44:57
the by the two classmates who say they saw who took Amy in my opinion out of the two suspects that we have discussed
00:45:04
today personally I think thats true neck looks much more like the composite drawing than this Herald bound right it
00:45:12
would be interested to see if the law enforcement did any kind of line up with these eyewitnesses so we do have to keep
00:45:22
one thing in mind and and and remember you were talking to me last week about misinformation and when there is bad
00:45:29
information thrown out there drives me insane in some of these cases it can hurt the
00:45:34
investigation and it makes you wonder specifically in this case is it possible that the man who took and killed Amy
00:45:43
does not look like the composite drawing and therefore someone who knows something never picked up the phone or
00:45:52
never sent an email with the tip and a name because as uncomfortable as it was to suspect a person close to them maybe
00:46:01
even someone they loved yeah it made it so much easier for that person and so much more convenient when they looked at
00:46:11
that composite and they were able to say to themselves well it can't be him he doesn't look like the composite but well
00:46:18
back to the truck thing you know eye witnesses saying that maybe she's abducted in this truck okay
00:46:26
so my thought is if you don't have a clear-cut eyewitness account of the vehicle how sure can we be of the
00:46:35
eyewitness accounts of the the man they saw with Amy right and and that that kind of bothers me a little bit yeah and
00:46:44
the way that this shopping plaza is kind of divided up you know there's some standalone buildings in the immediate
00:46:51
area there's several parking lots in the media area the thought is there's a couple of ways
00:46:59
of thinking of this one as said earlier this was not a violent abduction this was not a kicking and screaming
00:47:07
situation nobody that saw anything that day knew that she was being led away to be abducted so no one saw her get into a
00:47:17
vehicle and the thought is either just no one saw her get into a vehicle or that he potentially parked his vehicle
00:47:24
in an area that would be less visible and led her you know slightly away and then into his vehicle right it makes me
00:47:33
wonder though you're you have this a ruse going a meet me somewhere we're gonna buy a gift for your mother is it
00:47:41
possible you know here's a guy that works at the stables when Amy sees me she isn't gonna be freaked out because
00:47:50
she has seen me before and that makes me wonder yeah I get that the the issue that I've always had with that and the
00:47:58
issue that I've always had with with people presenting a suspect that Amy would have known directly personally I
00:48:07
think that it's that it's highly unlikely just in the sense that she's being told that this individual was
00:48:13
somebody else on the phone and to arrive and learn that he is not in fact who he
00:48:20
says he was makes it a you know weird from Jump Street right then right so all right well I'm getting off topic here
00:48:28
back to Herald bound so law enforcement blocked off Nago Road and they searched that area extent
00:48:35
of Lee and they captain they searched it for days during the search law enforcement found a pair of sweatpants
00:48:42
in the field or a wooded area in that immediate area these pants very well could be the same
00:48:52
ones that amy was wearing this does not help Harold one bit of course so law enforcement focused serious attention on
00:49:02
him for months they did intense surveillance exhaustive investigation all of this yielding nothing Harold took
00:49:10
polygraph tests and I want to be clear that's plural tests Harold Harold requested that he be questioned after
00:49:20
they administered truth serum the FBI complied with this he was subjected to questioning with truth serum pumping
00:49:28
through his veins now I can't tell you if he passed the polygraph test and I can't tell you what the FBI thought
00:49:37
about his answers during the truth serum questioning but I can tell you at some point they were no longer interested in
00:49:44
talking to him anymore right which makes you believe when he's checking into a VA
00:49:49
hospital this is all a part of it hey look I'm being accused of something this is a this is heinous a I see why an
00:49:58
individual would want to do anything you want to give me truths from you want to
00:50:02
give me a polygraph test I'm not involved in this I I think and we've talked about this before I think it's
00:50:10
one of the scariest things in the world to think about being accused of a heinous crime with little to no evidence
00:50:17
and how much that can affect these individuals lives can I tell you what the local rumor and
00:50:24
local thought was on Herald bound and his reaction to the end of the investigation no I'm tired of you
00:50:31
talking okay so the general thought here is that because he served in Vietnam because he served in the war that what
00:50:41
he witnessed there what he experienced there left him mentally unstable and it was it was Harold that the
00:50:49
understood this though he knew that he wasn't of mind to put up a fight in to proclaim his innocence in the in the you
00:50:59
know in a sense that made sense to him I guess and the idea is that he was living
00:51:05
at home and he was working for his parents because because of what he suffered in the war that might have been
00:51:12
the extent of his capabilities at that time and then when he became under under fire and under questioning for this
00:51:20
abduction of a girl that it that it tipped him and he said this is the only way I know how to handle this I need to
00:51:26
go get checked out and get looked at where some proclaim that that is a sign of guilt that he's trying to shield
00:51:34
himself but a run away from the problem other others suggests that it's just he's innocent and doesn't understand how
00:51:43
to properly fight this and I don't blame him I mean you're being talked to by the
00:51:48
FBI and multiple agencies and in the end what we do know took place is he was polygraphed multiple times he was
00:51:56
questioned after they administered truth serum by his own request and at some point law enforcement
00:52:02
they've never cleared him but we know that they moved on from him brain so again though I mean could you imagine
00:52:10
being accused of a crime like this this is a heinous crime against this young beautiful girl this smart intelligent
00:52:18
girl she has so much promise and and you kind of know her you you at least you might not know her that well but she
00:52:28
works where you write see their eye eyes did you direct ties to you and and the fact that once people didn't I
00:52:38
I'm flustered and these mothers mention in that phone call in the ruse and he would have likely have known her as well
00:52:46
yeah but it's just once you're accused of this or there's some speculation about you and then you're trying to
00:52:52
clear yourself and I'm sure there's some people and his family that gave him some
00:52:57
looks and he knew that they just didn't believe him and I just think that would crush her spirits
00:53:03
yeah I think for for the most part it sounds like his family had his back now regarding his brothers Greg and his
00:53:12
statements that appear in Renner's book Amy my search for her killer that statement about the blue pickup truck
00:53:22
that law enforcement said to the family that Amy was taken away in a blue pickup
00:53:27
truck that's the only place I've ever seen that statement and in fact I don't know how Greg came up with that maybe in
00:53:35
fact he was told that by law enforcement but I've also seen public statements from very early on in the investigation
00:53:42
where they were outright telling the public we do not have a description of a vehicle and on top of that when they
00:53:51
released these composite drawings and I'm sorry I'm holding these up and yelled at the captain when they released
00:53:57
these composite sketches of who they think was at the plaza that day or if they had a freaking vehicle description
00:54:03
it would have been included on that as you and I have said many times vehicle description is so much easier vehicle
00:54:09
easier to track down than a drawing of a person right and I even have a newspaper
00:54:17
article from very early on shortly after her body was found where the chief of police for Bay Village is saying I would
00:54:26
give anything for even a vague description of a vehicle we don't have that right so I don't know where that
00:54:34
information came from but it doesn't seem to be accurate it may have just been a way of cranking up the heat and
00:54:40
asking some questions and hoping that this dude might crack but the other thing that we night we need to think
00:54:46
about too when we talk about Herald being a good suspect or not being a good suspect you can be a good suspect in the
00:54:53
eyes of law enforcement for a period of time and then thoroughly checked and then no longer a good suspect in their
00:55:00
eyes right so we referenced those sweatpants that were found near or on the property of Holly Hill we we need to
00:55:10
think about this portion of the investigation to the pair of pants that were found on Holly Hill farm property
00:55:16
made Harold or someone from Hawley he'll look like they were involved we know the
00:55:23
the results of the autopsy remember when Amy was found she was found fully clothed
00:55:29
right redressed after death most likely but fully clothed those pants that were found on that property simply were not
00:55:36
hers now dick Wren when asked around the ten year anniversary about Harold bounds
00:55:43
specifically Rena said he didn't do it I'm as certain as I can be in an uncertain world is his exact quote in
00:55:52
fact yeah and back to this blue truck Phaeton first a sec you know it's it's heard one time you've seen it no other
00:56:01
time again is it is it something that was brought up by Renard that was then twisted later it's it's a possible it
00:56:10
was a statement from Harold's brother Greg to Renner right that's what I'm saying but the statement this
00:56:17
conversation that happened what was there a twist and turn to get there you see what I'm saying and and just because
00:56:25
somebody put it in his book does not mean it's a hundred percent accurate this is all I'm putting out there well
00:56:32
yeah and that's why I said we don't know where Greg came up with that information
00:56:36
right you know that I mean he could have it could be total fantasy for all we know and that conversation happened 15
00:56:46
years after the abduction I think a lot of things get changed and distorted and and and misremembered now from the
00:56:57
articles that came out around the 10-year anniversary in regards to both of the suspects that we have discussed
00:57:05
so far strewn AK and Harold bound the this is the the statement they gave at the 10-year the 10-year mark it says
00:57:15
investigators are virtually unanimous in the certainty that neither one of these
00:57:20
individuals was involved in the abduction or murder of a Mima Holloway well the other thing that I like about
00:57:27
this individual is that there's there was other phone calls made and there was a set of girls or or
00:57:37
one girl that actually rode horses and those stables so there would be the connection of the phone calls
00:57:45
mm-hmm yes and again it's it's we're unable to determine which in fact phone calls were connected to Amy's amy's case
00:57:55
[Music] [Music] [Music] thank one and all for your support your love and your concern without which I
00:58:17
would not have been able to make it through this past year a year ago today just across the street from the tree on
00:58:23
the granite marker amy was abducted from a Bay Village Shopping Center a little more than three months later her body
00:58:30
was found let's fill the void that her passing has left with positive thoughts with a smile
00:58:37
on her face and say she blessed our life for a while unfortunately she is gone but now we must live on City and civic
00:58:47
leaders and law enforcement officials spoke of love and community together nasaan the Amy Fund and the continuing
00:58:53
search for the child's killer and we're not going to give up until we see this thing through
00:59:00
amy has touched our lives she will live forever the monument says that Amy lives
00:59:05
on in our hearts Amy pulled a community together as a family and we still are a family
00:59:12
supporting each other loving each other we know that Amy is in God's love and care and his love and care are with us
00:59:21
there was morning and there were drawn faces and there were some tears but this was not a ceremony of sorrow but a smile
00:59:28
on thank you for coming in Bay Village John Harington Channel 3 News [Music] simply safe makes home security easy
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01:00:03
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want to thank everybody out there for listening for everything true crime go to true crime garage calm and until
01:00:26
tomorrow be good be kind and don't let it [Music] [Applause]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most heartbreaking
  • 60
    Most shocking

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Amy Mahalo Vic
    A detailed look into the unsolved abduction case of 10-year-old Amy Mahalo Vic, marking 30 years since her disappearance.
    “This was not a snatch-and-grab situation.”
    @ 05m 27s
    October 22, 2019
  • The Investigation's Complexity
    The case involved extensive investigation efforts, with over 60,000 hours logged by law enforcement.
    “The most intense search for a child in local history.”
    @ 07m 16s
    October 22, 2019
  • The Phone Call
    Amy's last phone call to her mother raises questions about her abductor's control during the conversation.
    “It tells us he was executing a bold plot.”
    @ 14m 45s
    October 22, 2019
  • The Mystery of Amy's Disappearance
    Investigators explore the locations tied to Amy's case, revealing gaps in evidence.
    “We don't have much evidence to suggest that she went back to his house.”
    @ 23m 38s
    October 22, 2019
  • Harold Bound: A Key Suspect
    Harold Bound, who lived at the stables, becomes a person of interest in Amy's abduction.
    “This dude jumps on the radar for several reasons.”
    @ 36m 30s
    October 22, 2019
  • Conflicting Stories
    Harold Bound provides inconsistent accounts of his interactions with Amy, raising suspicion.
    “Two completely different answers from the same guy about the same situation.”
    @ 40m 04s
    October 22, 2019
  • Community Remembers Amy
    A year after her abduction, the community gathers to honor Amy's memory.
    “Let's fill the void that her passing has left with positive thoughts.”
    @ 58m 34s
    October 22, 2019
  • The Search for Justice Continues
    Community leaders pledge to continue the search for Amy's killer.
    “We're not going to give up until we see this thing through.”
    @ 58m 58s
    October 22, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • It's good to be seen.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345
  • This is an intelligent man, presentable, well-spoken.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345
  • We can't sit here and spin our tires all day.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345
  • This dude jumps on the radar for several reasons.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345
  • Does he look guilty? I would say no, but sounding guilty, I think yes.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345
  • Amy has touched our lives; she will live forever.
    Amy Mihaljevic - Suspects /// Part 1 /// 345

Key Moments

  • Shout Outs01:27
  • Unsolved Abduction05:01
  • 30-Year Anniversary05:12
  • Family Secrets28:21
  • Suspect Spotlight33:56
  • Fear of Accusation50:10
  • Community Vigil58:34
  • Ongoing Investigation58:58

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown