All language subtitles for At.Witts.End.The.Hunt.for.a.Killer.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[projector whirring]

[poignant music]

♪ ♪

PERSON: From what I know,
she's been missing

since about 5:00
this past Thursday.

She apparently had been
at work that evening...

REPORTER:
But instead of cramming,

many of these students
are wondering

what has happened
to their friend Melissa.

PERSON: It's upsetting.
I want her back.

I want my friend back

and I want my sister back
and...

PERSON: I believe
that everything has a purpose

and that God used Missy
to making everyone

realize how valuable
everything is.

[rock music playing]

♪ ♪

[pins clattering]

[arcade games chiming]

[lively chatter]

[somber music]

♪ ♪

[pins clattering]

[cheering]

♪ ♪

CHARLENE: Fort Smith was
basically a one-road downtown.

I mean, in Fort Smith,
unless you were

into outside
recreational activities,

there was pool,
and there was bowling.

That's about the sport
that was there for you

if you weren't on the river
and on the lake.

Bowling was a big deal.

You know, that's where
people had church leagues.

They had community leagues.

It was a big thing.

It's where people met,
people hung out,

people gathered together.

So it was no surprise
that, you know,

Mary Ann Witt was
in a church league

with all of her friends.

And it's no surprise
that that was a common thing

for the two of them to do,
for Melissa to get off of work,

go home, change, and then go
meet her mom and grab a burger

and spend some time
with her mom and her friends.

This area represents what
much of Bristow looks like--

as well as green country,
black and brittle.

Here's the time
to help other people...

I fell into reporting
because I got

an internship
back in Jacksonville

to work in a newsroom.

I realized how much I loved

telling
other people's stories,

getting to know people,
communicating with them.

And there's no
greater responsibility

than when someone tells you
their story,

and then you have
that responsibility

of telling it back
to the world.

I took that job, that role,
and that responsibility

very, very seriously.

And the people
in Fort Smith, Arkansas,

they would sit down
and tell you--

they would tell you a story.

They would take the time
and tell you a story.

And then it was my job to turn
around and make sure

that I told that story
effectively,

and if there was
a call to action,

that I was able to get people
to mobilize and to motivate.

I mean, I remember
one of the big stories I did

was, local
high school kids stole

a big, giant American flag from
Hanging Judge Parker's museum.

This is the fourth time
thieves have stolen the flag.

The last time,
the community was so enraged,

whoever stole it
secretly returned it.

And that was, like, a big deal.

In fact, if you're not familiar
with Hanging Judge Parker,

his saying was,
"It is not the severity

"of the punishment
that deters crime,

but the certainty of it."

So now, if you are
so moved by the flag

that you want one
of your very own,

park officials say
they know where you can get one

without having
to break the law.

They found the flag,
by the way.

It's pretty hard
to hide a flag that big.

I mean, my mom felt
I was safe there.

If I was gonna go anywhere,
I was safe there.

It was this one-road downtown,
and you had Arlie Mucks.

And that's where we would go
as a news team after work.

And our newscast was at 10:00,
so we were, you know,

going out at 10:30, 10:45

for, you know, I think,
dollar pitcher night.

And that's where I learned
to play pool.

And it was just a great group
of people I worked with.

It was a great community.
Everybody was friendly.

It was just
a beautiful place to be.

And the place was
absolutely gorgeous.

[ominous music]

[indistinct chatter]

- Hello, sir.

We have a local girl
that's missing.

And we're just
passing out flyers,

trying to get any information
we can.

We just appreciate it
if you might take this,

and if there's any information
you have at all,

just let us know.

PERSON: And we're missing
a really good friend of ours.

And we're wondering
if you could take that.

You recognize it,

see the car driving around town
or anything,

if you would give the police
a call or the phone number

on there, you know,
if you see her or the car

driving around town,
anywhere you're at,

we'd appreciate it.

- From what I know, she's been
missing since about 5:00

this past Thursday.

She apparently had been
at work that evening

and had possibly gone
to get something to eat,

and no one had
seen her since then.

- So Missy and I have been
best friends for 16 years.

And in 16 years, she's never
done anything like this,

never would.

If she had a problem,
wouldn't take a day off.

She would have called me.

She hasn't called me.

She didn't take
anybody with her.

And it's not like her.

She's a friend-oriented person.

She wants friends with her.

And she just wouldn't do it.

CHARLENE: So I was
the weekend reporter.

So I came in
on Saturday morning-ish,

and I walked
into the newsroom.

And I happened to see
this flyer

sitting on our
producer's desk,

and I picked it up.

And I asked her,
what was this?

Where did this come from?

And she explained to me
that some young people

had dropped it off,
that their friend was missing,

that she had called
the police department,

Portsmouth Police Department,
that no missing person

report had been filed yet.

And so, at that time, it was,
well, do we cover it?

Has it been confirmed?

You know, Missy was of age.

So, you know, there was
this assumption that, well,

if someone's of age,
they have a right

to disappear if they want to.

But when I looked at that
picture of that young girl,

I knew.
I just knew.

Like, my gut knew.

This was not a young girl
who just took off and ran away.

PERSON: All the time
I've known her,

she's always showed up
for everything.

And that's why when something
like this comes along,

I'm completely baffled
about what happened.

CHARLENE:
And so I called the number,

and I was able to meet up
with her friends.

They were out
putting flyers out,

you know, asking people,
stopping cars,

you know, asking people
if they'd seen her.

And I interviewed them.

And again,
just that gut feeling I had

was reinforced
because these were all

earnest young people
in dire worry of their friend.

- Well, we're assuming
that if there was a possibility

that Melissa had been
with someone else or something,

that they may have stopped at
a gas station to pick up gas.

And not only that,
but with traffic coming in town

for holiday shopping,
we're hoping that there'll be

enough people in and out
that if there's anyone at all

that would have information,
this would be

a good place to find them.
- She wouldn't do it.

She wouldn't have really--

she couldn't do it
without calling her mama.

She'd missed her mom a lot.

And she would have
called somebody by now.

And on top of that,
she has no money to take off.

She has a quarter tank of gas.

- You know, she was
an ambassador to her college,

which meant the college
had her go and recruit students

because they wanted
students like her.

You know,
she worked after school.

She was already a hard worker.

She had big dreams
for her life.

You know, she went to meet
her mom at bowling--

at a bowling church league.

Like, this was a girl
who was doing everything

she was supposed to be doing,
right?

It's everything we're told
to do as young people.

You know, get a good education.

You know, work hard.

Have a good, close relationship
with your parents.

Be a good kid.

She was a good kid.

PERSON: Knowing Melissa,
like I do, I don't think

that she would have run off
like she has.

And even if she had,
I think she would have

contacted somebody else.

Maybe not her parents,
but at least somebody else

to let everybody know she's OK.

- Those that know Melissa know
that this isn't like her.

She's a very
responsible person.

She often leaves notes
for her mother

telling her where she's going.

And it wouldn't be like her
just to run off.

- So after I interviewed them,
I went to the police station

to kind of, you know,
get an interview

with a police officer.

It was the weekend,

so there was
usually nobody there

unless it was a dire emergency,

and I had to call
the on-call person.

And I asked the dispatcher,
and I just said, hey.

I said, has her information
or has her tag number

been entered into what then was
like the NCIC, which is, like--

I think people know it
as a BOLO,

be on the lookout for.

And they said, well, no.

And they honestly
didn't really even know

what I was talking about.

And so I said, all right.

Well, I said, are you going to?

There was no sense
of urgency there.

And so I asked them,
I said, well,

if you're going to--
do you mind

if we just kind of hang here?

We'll wait.
I'd love to get that on camera.

And eventually,
they just picked up the paper,

and they put her tag number
into the system.

- All units be on lookout
for a Melissa Witt,

Melissa Witt.

Be a white female, 19 years
of age, 19 years of age.

Last seen Thursday,
December 1, around 5:50 PM.

Have a possible Arkansas tag
of Young Boy Tom 650.

Young Boy Tom 650.

- But at that point, there was
still no missing person report.

And so I went back
to the station.

And we did the story
for the early newscast.

This is the last week
before finals

on the West Ark campus.

But instead of cramming,
many of these students

are wondering
what has happened

to their friend Melissa.

In Fort Smith,
I'm Charlene Shirk,

TV 5 first team.

[somber music]

[footsteps]

ANTHONY:
My name is Anthony Parkinson.

I'm a deputy chief with the
Fort Smith Police Department.

I oversee
the non-uniform bureau,

and that consists of the
Criminal Investigation Division

and Support Services Division.

I've been a police officer for
17 years with the department.

When I first became aware
of the Melissa Witt case,

I mean, I'd been on the PD
not very long.

You always had a lot
of interest from outside--

family friends, relatives,

just citizens
that want to know,

hey, what are you doing
on this case?

You know, so it does
have that publicity.

What's being done about it?

Are you gonna ever solve it?

And then that's when
we kind of got

this cold case
working group together,

so that way, we could dig
into cold cases,

really go, you know,
page by page in the case file,

and see if anything might have
been overlooked or missed

or something that needs
to be revisited.

A cold case is different
because it may be

a 20-year-old cold case.

Witnesses may have passed away.

Friends and family
may have moved off.

So it starts to get difficult
to contact those people,

interview them.

And then you're going
off of a case

that you had
nothing to do with. .

Different types of writing.

You know, 20, 30 years ago,
police wrote reports

different than they do now.

Technology has changed.

That's another big thing.

So when you're going back,

you really have to segregate
what has been done on a case.

So much has changed
that now you might be able

to process evidence
with modern technology

and get better results.

[poignant music]

♪ ♪

ANTHONY: As we're working
through the case,

what the detective is
gonna be doing is,

they want to do
follow-up interviews.

They want to talk
with everyone that knew her.

What happened
first 24, 48 hours

before she went missing?

Who did she speak to?

Friends, family.

Get as much information
as we can

and trying to narrow down
the timeline of events

of what happened.

Did she have any arguments
with people?

You know, was she having
a boyfriend issue?

Did she just recently
break up?

Is she--who is she seeing?

Who is she dating?

What does her best friend know
about her?

So this is where
you really dive in deep

into getting to know
everything about your victim.

And so the more you know
about your victim,

the approach is,
you're gonna know possibly

who may have done this to them.

Majority of the time,
it's gonna be someone

that they know.

It is rare for a stranger
just to come up

and do something like this.

CHARLENE:
So Missy and Mary Ann's day

starts early morning.

You know, Missy's getting
ready to go to school,

and she has
an after-school job.

Mary Ann's getting ready
to go to work.

You know,
mothers and daughters,

they're in the kitchen.

You know, they're getting ready
to go out the door,

and they get into an argument.

I think it was over money.

Missy needed an oil change,
wanted money.

You know, I'm sure Mary Ann's
like, you have a job.

You need to spend
your money on your car,

like all mothers will tell you.

- After the argument--
it was a minor argument--

she ends up going to school.

CHARLENE:
Missy gets to school.

She goes to a couple classes.

- Now, what we don't know,
we assume she was in class.

She had two classes.

Unfortunately,
roll call wasn't taken,

so no one was able to know

whether she was actually
in the class.

But it was routine for her
to meet up with her one friend

after the second class,

and then they went off campus
to go eat.

CHARLENE: At lunch,
she and a friend go,

I think, to the mall.

They get Chick-fil-A.
They have lunch.

- So after visiting the mall,
Melissa and her friend

went back
to the friend's house and she,

according to the friend,
dropped him off.

After that, we believe she went
to work because she showed up

at work on time,
and she worked

her normal shift
at a local dentist office.

CHARLENE: She works
her after-school job,

and she goes to leave.

And her car won't start.

And so she comes back in
and says, my car won't start.

COWORKER: She came in.

She was a little upset because
her car wouldn't start.

She had left her lights on.

She came in to find out
about jumpstarting it,

and we decided to go out
and jumpstart her car.

And we were able to get someone
from next door to help us.

ANTHONY: A nearby business,
there was someone outside.

So they ended up jumpstarting
her vehicle for her.

And he mentioned, hey,
you don't want to turn it off

because it may not start again,

and you'll have
to jumpstart it.

- He's concerned.
He's like, look, go home.

Don't shut your car off.
Make sure it stays on.

You don't want to get stranded.

She realizes
that she left her lights on.

Probably, her car was fine,
but she--

YOU KNOW, out of precaution,
she does go home.

- Her mom reported
that her work clothes

were found inside the house.

So we believe that she did,
in fact, go home, change,

and then she left.

CHARLENE:
She changes her clothes.

She finds a note from her mom.

"Hey, come meet me
at the bowling alley.

"It's church league night.

I'll buy you a burger."

So Melissa changes her clothes.

[pensive music]

♪ ♪

And she hops in her car,
and she drives

down to the bowling alley.

She gets to the bowling alley.

She gets out of the car.

She never makes it
into the bowling alley.

- Sometime between that 5:35
leaving work

and 6:30,
we don't know what happened.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

An officer on patrol ended up
finding Melissa's vehicle

in the parking lot
of Bowling World

on December 4th.

Once the vehicle was located,
the standard procedure

which was followed is,

everyone stays away
from the vehicle.

And then detectives were
called out to the scene,

so that way,
it could be processed.

- I thought, what have we lost?

What evidence has been lost?
What time has been lost?

And it's been sitting here
the entire time.

JEFF: This morning,
the vehicle was found

by a patrol officer
at about 8:30 in the morning,

parked outside Bowling World
here in Fort Smith.

The vehicle was taken
to the police impound lot.

There appeared to be
no foul play in the vehicle,

and everything was as normal.

The vehicle was locked,
and it appeared to be normal.

It's not being considered
as a crime scene

as such because,
quite frankly, we don't suspect

foul play at this time.

The vehicle was found
in a normal condition,

like you or I would
park our vehicles,

locked and nothing
tampered with.

- And I thought, somebody has
got to take on this.

Somebody has got
to let this community know

that this girl is missing,
and her mother is worried.

And her friends are
worried sick about her.

And we've got to mobilize
and try to find her,

because at that point,
nobody else was.

After Melissa's disappearance
Thursday evening,

her friends distributed

thousands of flyers
with her picture

and the description
of her car.

Then on Sunday morning,
police found her 1995

white Mitsubishi
in the parking lot

of Bowling World
in Fort Smith.

Ms. Witt, you wanted to talk
to us today

because I can only imagine

that what's been going on
in the community

has helped you
get through this.

- Well, I do want to thank
everyone in the community

because they've been so good.

And there have been
so many prayers

of so many people
that have gone out for her.

And even people
that I don't know have just--

you know, they've just given
overwhelming support.

And it has shown me certainly
how much Melissa's loved

and how much I'm loved
that I was unaware of.

And I think things like this
do show us that sometimes.

- Mary Ann, I don't know
how she held it together.

I really don't.

This was a woman
of such strong faith

that you could feel
this calmness

and this resolve
coming from her.

- As far as we know,

nothing has been connected
to her specifically

since she left work
on that day.

And I'm just praying
that whoever has her,

or, you know, whatever
the circumstances are,

that she'll be able
to come home.

And I'm praying
that she is alive

and will be able
to come home to me.

And one thing
I want to say to her,

I want to tell her
that she's loved

more than anything
in the world.

And I'd just love
to have her back

if she's able to see me
or to hear me.

I love her with all my heart.

- All I could think of
was my mother.

And I grew up with a very
strict, cautious mother,

who was--"Lock your doors."

You know,
"Don't talk to people.

Don't talk to strangers."

And all I could think of
was that poor mother,

that poor mother
calling the police,

telling them that her daughter
hadn't come home,

them telling her that, well,

you guys had an argument
that morning.

OK, mothers and daughters,
we argue.

That's just part
of our language.

It's how we communicate.

We are very close.

Like, mothers and daughters
are bonded like that.

We think nothing of having
an argument that morning

and then, you know,
being invited

to go meet Mom
for dinner that night.

And all I could think of
was poor Mary Ann Witt

spending that whole night sick
to her stomach and her heart,

worrying about her daughter.

My heart just went out
to them, both of them.

You know, Melissa,
wondering if that were me,

I would want somebody
looking for me.

I wouldn't want
somebody dismissing me,

dismissing my mother.

ANTHONY: When detectives
got out there,

it had been raining,
so there was a mist

to light rain--

it was changing off and on--
and the fog.

So it made it really difficult
to see anything.

You also have to worry
about what the water has done

to potential evidence.

So the vehicle wasn't able
to be processed that evening

due to the conditions.

It was wet.

And when you're trying
to get latent prints

and other evidence
off of a vehicle,

you want it to be dry.

So the vehicle was towed
and put into a facility,

so that way, it could dry,
and the water would

naturally evaporate by itself.

Once the vehicle was dry,
then our technicians

processed the vehicle.

- Not only are Melissa's
worried friends

asking for your help,
but so are police.

They say they'd like
anyone who may have seen

this car,
Melissa's white Mitsubishi,

at Bowling World around 6:00
on Thursday night to call.

They say, even if you don't
think it's anything, call.

It may be just the lead
they're looking for.

- Inside Melissa's vehicle,
we end up finding

a Chick-fil-A cup, which looks
like it may have corroborated

the story with her friend
after school.

Then we found
a red JanSport backpack

in the back seat
that contained school items.

There was a Boyz II Men CD
in the back seat,

and then in the trunk
were jumper cables,

a foot pump, you know,
to put pressure in a tire

or blow up, you know,
sports balls,

something like that,
and then a clothes hanger.

- It was--it took a turn

when someone
from the bowling alley called

and said,
hey, I've seen these stories

this weekend
about a missing girl,

and they call her Missy.

And somebody turned in
a set of keys,

and it says Missy on it.

ANTHONY: At some point
during the day as well,

Melissa's keys were
brought to our attention.

They were turned in
at some point in the evening

by someone that found them
in the parking lot.

And when detectives went
and retrieved the keys,

they found blood
on Melissa's keys.

- And they realized that
there was blood on the keys,

and there was blood
all over that parking lot.

ANTHONY: You know,
the same thing is applying.

It was poor weather.

The rain was a mist
to a light rain,

you know,
not being able to see

very well and very clearly.

Wet weather is just covering
the parking lot.

So there were several spots
in the parking lot

where they believed
they had found blood.

CHARLENE:
I remember coming back

to the scene
of the bowling alley

and having these little--

they used
these little yellow flags,

these little yellow things,
and they're numbered.

And they were
all over the parking lot.

New information into the
disappearance of Melissa Witt

has not brought
any bright hopes.

Police are now releasing
that three pools of blood

were found in the parking lot
of Bowling World.

The blood,
now determined to be human,

was found close to where
they located Missy's car.

A Bowling World employee
also turned in a set of keys

to police,
and it is now confirmed

they belonged to her.

- So now they're focused
on collecting

samples of the blood.

And if there's blood
in the parking lot,

around her vehicle,
in the back of the mind,

if she was bleeding, possibly,

or even the suspect
was bleeding,

whatever vehicle we find
associated with the suspect,

we're probably gonna be looking
for some type of blood

inside that vehicle.

CHARLENE: For some reason,

law enforcement was
not really using us, right?

They weren't turning to us.

They weren't saying, hey,
help us get this word out,

like law enforcement does
today, right?

The first thing they do is,
like, let's contact the media.

Let's get the pictures out.

Let's manage the message
so that we make sure

that what's getting out
is accurate information.

And it was our stories running
all weekend long that we heard

that her keys had been
turned in

because in our stories,
we called her Missy

because that's what
her friends called her.

And the bowling alley manager
realized

somebody turned in a pair--
a set of keys,

and it says "Missy" on it.

And then we went
to the bowling alley

and saw that the parking lot
had turned into a crime scene.

- So we collected the keys,

and now we have blood
on the keys.

And we have blood
in the parking lot,

trailing off to possibly
a suspect's vehicle.

CHARITY: And here's Ray.

Yeah, Vines' interview,

which I know
I read the interview.

Like, it was typed up.

[indistinct chatter]

You wanna take that in there,
too, so it's on the table too?

[indistinct chatter]

PERSON: It is.

[line trilling]

PERSON: Hey, Brad.
BRAD: Hey. How's it going?

PERSON: Pretty good.
How are you?

BRAD: Ah, not too bad.
You got a second?

So Friday, I guess
one of the state police guys

reached out to our lieutenant
and said

they found some evidence
and all their stuff

in the Melissa Witt file case,
if we wanted it.

So Charity went
and picked it up,

and there is a box
that is listed as evidence.

We've been looking
for the past hour or so,

and I cannot find anywhere
where this stuff was sent

to the crime lab.

You know, I kind of fell
into law enforcement.

I wanted to go down
a different career path.

And I started working
as a dispatcher

for the sheriff's office.

And, you know,
after about a month of that,

I was pretty much hooked.

I was 19, I believe,
and I just got hooked

with the type of work,
you know, the adrenaline,

the every call is different.

We have to open
to get to go through it

because I don't, you know,
want to contaminate anything

if it hasn't been sent.

Can y'all--can y'all check
and see

if your labs had
anything sent to it,

y'all would--whatever lab
y'all would have used?

The longer I've done it,
the more that you can give

people closure with anything,

you know, it makes
a huge effect

on how you view life.

Getting closure to families,
it's a huge reward.

BRAD: Yeah,
or unless it's the stuff

that they took
out of her house.

But, I mean, I don't think
she--she wasn't a smoker.

BRAD: It's interesting.

BRAD:
The older the case, though,

the more difficult it is

because with Melissa,
the time that it took place,

I mean,
you didn't have cell phones.

You didn't have debit cards.

In fact, the day
that she went missing,

when they talked to Mr. Moulson

because he had spent
the day with her

and had lunch with her,

you know, he was so proud
that he went to the ATM

and used his ATM card
for the first time

and got, like, $5 out.

And it was a big deal.

So you don't have
the financial records,

the telephone records,

and things like that
to backtrack.

So you rely a lot
on witnesses and,

you know, family members
and people

that knew the victim
really well.

[soft dramatic music]

The bowling alley
actually has two entrances.

From the way
that it was kind of set up,

it seems like she had probably
came in from this side.

It was a league night,
so you can imagine

this parking lot being
pretty full with cars.

According to the measurements
and the maps that we have,

the earring
and a hair tie was found

probably about 10 to 15 feet

towards the bowling alley
back in the aisle.

There's really not any kind
of blood or anything like that

until it gets back towards
behind her vehicle,

which was somewhere
where we're parked now.

And then the blood starts
to pick up.

And from the blood pattern,
you can tell

that she goes across
to the parking spots behind us,

and she's taken up about--

I don't know--probably
four parking spots in,

and then the blood stops.

So, to me, that tells me
that, most likely,

she was attacked
where the hairpiece

and the earring was located.

[whirring]

When the vehicle is found
and the blood is located

at the scene, that moves
the priority to the roof

because you know
there's a confrontation.

You know that there's injury.

The stakes get a lot higher
at that point.

You know, you have a lot
more evidence to look at.

You've got, assuming
that that's Melissa's blood--

at the time, they didn't know,
but they were assuming.

You've got evidence
to look for in,

you know, your vehicle stops
or your suspects.

ANTHONY: So the one thing
about the blood pattern is,

there was some blood
by her vehicle,

and it trailed off
almost as if

it was going
toward the entrance

of the parking lot
to Bowling World.

So this would have been
over to the northwest.

It does not appear that she
went willingly with someone.

CHARLENE: A small gold
hoop earring and a hair comb

were also found by detectives
who searched the area.

All the items have been
sent to the crime lab,

but so far, no word
if the blood is Melissa's.

What happened in this
parking lot is what detectives

are desperately trying
to find out.

You know, the investigation
side of it,

they were really tight-lipped.

You know, they were not
really free with information.

I mean, we knew
they'd found her car.

We knew they'd found her keys,

mostly because people
were telling us this.

And so, you know,
I was showing up constantly.

I'm sure I was a real thorn
in their side

because they're starting
to get calls, too, right?

They're getting--
and you know what happens.

They're getting
dozens of leads,

you know, most of them
going nowhere.

They're trying to sift through
what's real and what isn't.

So they're being inundated.

And I honestly don't think
they knew how to handle that.

Once we knew the car was there,
once we saw that parking lot,

I mean, we knew that something
terrible had happened to her.

And now time was of the essence
because somebody had her.

Somebody had her,
and we had to find that person.

And we had to find her.

ANTHONY: So we received a tip
from someone at Bowling World.

She was there
on Thursday night,

and she had her son with her.

And at some point
between 6:35 and 7:00,

she sent her son out
to the parking lot

to get a book.

The kid went out,
got the book, came back in.

It ended up being
the wrong book.

So Mom said, hey, go back out,
grab the correct book.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

The son went out there,
went to the car,

and as he was outside,
he heard people arguing.

And he heard a female scream.

And when he looked over,
he saw a vehicle

with its lights on
and he saw two people--

the way he described it was,
one was bigger than the other.

He was scared,
got the right book,

and went back inside
and told his mom,

along with whoever else
was at this table bowling.

- You know, I know
that they knew at that point

they had something terrible
on their hands, right?

But I think
they so didn't want to give out

inconsistent
or incorrect information,

they didn't give out
information.

You know, witnesses have
reported that they

saw two people arguing.

I think one witness even said
that screaming was happening.

CHRIS: We have discovered at
least two different incidents

on that parking lot that night

that may have been
the altercation

involving the Black male

that was seen
by a couple of witnesses.

One was an incident
where some people

were just overjoyed because
they'd won money at Bingo.

That could have been confused
for what they saw.

The other was a Black man
and a white woman

that were visiting
the bar nearby

and had a little argument
between each other.

What we're trying
to tell people is,

is that there are
still other possibilities.

CHARLENE:
Now, the people who saw

that argument
in the parking lot,

they weren't really sure
then that--

that was Melissa Witt
who they saw.

- The people that saw
the argument in the parking lot

were never able to positively
identify Melissa as the girl

or the woman involved in that.

Although the time frame
was close,

we thought it was relevant.

And we would have been remiss
had we not investigated

that avenue and put out
a composite based

on what they thought
they had seen.

We are still not set
on any type of race

on the suspect, never.

We have not been since day one.

- We had to be very careful
in reporting this,

that as much as we wanted
and I wanted to keep it alive

every day,
to not be putting out

information that was
going to distract

or divert
from the investigation.

- We get one tip that came in
from Mary, Melissa's mother.

She received a phone call
from a classmate of Melissa's.

And the classmate had said,
have they found a body yet?

So red flags
immediately went off.

We brought this guy in,
interviewed him,

conducted a polygraph,

but nothing substantial
came of it.

- Any lead we got,
you know,

we immediately contacted
the detectives.

We immediately shared
what we knew.

And even if I knew
this is probably not valid,

I've got to share it.

I've got to pass it on.

- We had another tip
that came in.

This time, actually,
again, it came

from Mary, Melissa's mother.

Someone had mailed
a rubber penis

to her in the mail,

and there was a note
inside the package

about a room,
a certain room number, room 25.

Detectives followed up with
this person, investigated it.

Ended up being someone
who was mentally handicapped

and had a lot of issues,

and that person was
eventually ruled out.

So during investigation
like this,

it's common practice
to look at your known

sex offenders in the area.

Detectives reached out
to one known sex offender,

who had a history of sexual
offenses against women.

CHARLENE: Police are searching
the backroads of Franklin,

Washington,
and Crawford counties,

in an effort to find Taylor,

who's wanted
on charges of rape.

But police also want
to question him

about the kidnapping
of Melissa Witt.

REPORTER: When the news hit
the airwaves

that William Dillard Taylor
was in police custody,

his ex-wife breathed
a sigh of relief.

- It's just--oh, God.
Thank God.

It's took a load
off my shoulders.

REPORTER: Taylor is accused

of raping his daughter
and stepdaughter.

But Taylor's current wife
and his sister

believe he is in no way
a dangerous man.

And at the same time,
they believe

he is innocent of all charges.

- There are so many innocent
people that are innocent.

Years later, they come back,
and they're saying,

you know, they did this
to this guy on TV,

you know, and he was
innocent of the charges.

I just don't want
to see that happen now.

REPORTER: She also says
her husband is, in no way,

connected to the disappearance
of Morgan Nick

and Melissa Witt.

- He was with me

the night that
the little girl disappeared.

And there's no way
you could get William Taylor

to a bowling alley.

- They heavily looked
at this person.

You know, they looked
at his vehicles,

everything about him,
interviewed him,

but nothing ever panned out.

[sirens wailing]

ROB: You know,
it was June of 1995.

There was a ball game
in the evening.

Morgan left her mom
for just a few minutes.

Now, it could have been
five minutes.

It could have been 15 minutes.

But her and a couple kids
were playing up on a hill.

And we've got pictures
I'll show you.

And the two kids left Morgan
for just minutes

while she emptied her shoe out,
and then she disappeared.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

Some of the things we've seen
is, is there's overlap.

You know, you look
at certain suspects

that might be good
for this case.

And then they're also suspects
in other cases.

You know, Charlie Vines
comes to mind because...

BRETT: We don't believe
that we have everything

that this person did.

We believe that there's
more out there.

- Charlie Vines had
attempted to murder a girl

out here in Crawford County,
and he got caught in the act.

You know, he was convicted

of two in Crawford County,

one an attempted,
and then two in Fort Smith.

And he could be linked
to other cases--

Melissa Witt.

I'm not saying he is.
He just could be.

REUBEN:
We initially received a tip

from Alma Police Department.

There was a individual who had
a relative who was in prison,

who had information
on the Morgan Nick

investigation, supposedly.

- So then the next logical step
is to go talk to this inmate.

And we had to identify
that inmate

through the tipster,
and the tipster we found

to be that inmate's spouse.

- During that investigation
or during that interview,

there was a lot
of confusion on--

we were actually talking
about Morgan Nick,

and he kept telling us
we're barking up

the wrong tree
with Charlie Ray Vines

being involved in Morgan Nick.

He mentioned just
several things about Vines,

that he liked to see blood,
that he liked knives,

that, potentially--
I think he said something like

he potentially killed 30 people
or something.

We could tell that there was
some confusion there.

So after the interview,
I contacted the jail

and requested jail calls.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE: Hello.
This is a free call from--

WILLIAM: William.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
An inmate at Cummins Unit.

This call is subject
to recording and monitoring.

REUBEN: We left the jail.

He was genuinely confused on us
talking about Charlie Ray Vines

being involved in Morgan Nick.

- He was saying,
hey, the FBI came,

spoke to me
about Charlie Ray Vines.

And he said,
but they kept talking to me

about Morgan Nick.

- And then his wife was like,
well, I told him

what you wanted me to say.

And he said, no, not Nick.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- You can't go
anywhere around town

without seeing
Melissa Witt's face.

Now, employees at Donrey Media
want to make sure

you can't even go out of town
without seeing her.

Each day that passes
brings new frustration

and worries for the family
and friends of Melissa Witt.

So the members of
the Grand Avenue Baptist Church

have put up this banner
asking the community

to keep Missy in their prayers.

They're supposed to say
you're not--

you know, don't take
things personally.

But I would go home
at the end of my shift,

and all I could think of was,
what else can we do?

How else can we cover it?

And, you know, I was
a new reporter.

This was the first big missing
person case I had ever covered.

So I just kept thinking,
what am I missing?

What am I missing?
What am I not doing?

What should I be doing?

I was just focused.
I was just determined.

I was determined
to see this to the end,

no matter--
no matter how it ended.

With their friend missing
and the days going by,

there is a rush to spread
the word as far and as fast

as it can go.

And so far,
they've gotten few tips.

But they haven't been
very encouraging.

And Missy's friends
are starting to worry.

- Tomorrow is my birthday.

- Mm-hmm.
- OK.

- Tomorrow is my birthday.

And Missy has celebrated

almost all of my birthdays
with me since I've known her.

And I just want her home
for my birthday right now.

You know, it makes you realize
what's important.

And that friendship
is one of the most

important things to me.

And that's--I want it back.

I want it back.

CHARLENE: The Fort Smith
Police Department

has beefed up its efforts
to find her,

but her friends want to find
more than just Missy's car.

They want to find
the person most of them

have known since kindergarten.

And they want to find her
safe and sound.

- Missy right now, we're doing
the world to find you.

If you're somewhere,
just hang in.

We are doing everything
we can do

to find you right now.

And we love you.
Just hang in there.

CHARLENE: In Fort Smith,
I'm Charlene Shirk,

TV5 first team.

ANTHONY: You know, in law
enforcement, people can get

real touchy with, you know,
don't mess with my case.

And when people
retire and leave,

and they have a case
that wasn't solved,

they might get defensive.

And I'm not of that type.

To me, I want all the help.

If we can bring in the FBI
and our surrounding agencies

to help with this
and work together,

then why would we not do that?

So I definitely see this
as a benefit

where everyone is working
together towards this goal

of solving the case.

REUBEN: And the whole time,
we're trying to understand,

like, where's the confusion
coming from?

Like, the tip said Nick.

And then
to actually understand,

oh, he was confused
because he meant Witt,

well, that now brings us
into understanding

that, OK, Charlie Ray Vines
may have had some involvement

in Melissa Witt's case.

- Listening to the jail calls
and it adding up

with what we experienced
on the interviews,

then it makes his information
about Witt more genuine

involving Charlie Vines.

And, you know, Melissa Witt
being another closed cold case

in this area around
that same time as Morgan Nick,

it causes you to consider,
OK, the information is viable,

and Charlie Vines is a good
suspect because of his history.

You know, could this be
another unknown victim

yet associated with him?

Basically,
I've talked to most of you.

This case is
over 25 years old now,

and it's extensive.

So what I wanted to do is

pull in people
that I've worked with,

the kind of open-minded
thinkers that will

challenge the status quo
and say, you know,

hey, I need to speak up.

This seems like a silly idea.

And so we're pushing
for open-mindedness,

out-of-the-box thinking,
stuff like that.

What I wanted to do was
pull people from every agency,

Fort Smith PD, Crawford County,
Sebastian County,

Van Buren, the FBI row here.

We've also found
where, you know,

you go into an organization,
and some guy

who's no longer there has
worked leads

and done
a unilateral investigation

on their own and told no one.

And you find that binder later,
and you're like, wow.

And 99% of the time,
it's gonna be nothing, right?

But there may be one little
nugget of information in there

or something we just--we need
to see for the bigger picture.

You know,
looking through this case,

we found decades ago,

someone might get a lead,
and then they held on to it

because they thought,
this is a good lead.

I'm gonna run it to ground.

And that's kind of--
that's kind of bullcrap, right?

So we want the kind of people
that'll be like,

hey, this is a good lead.

Let's get it to the team
and let's everybody look at it

and ensure it's a good lead
and run it to ground

and get the job done,
complete the mission.

And so, you know,
that's my goal in mind.

That's kind of what I have
anticipated for this group.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

OFFICER: We can tell you
that at approximately 9:40 AM

this morning, a call came in
to the Franklin County

Sheriff's Office
of the discovery of a body.

The Franklin County
Sheriff's Office

responded first to the scene.

After viewing the scene,

the Franklin County
Sheriff's Office contacted

the Arkansas State Police

and other area
law enforcement agencies.

The State Police Criminal
Investigation Division,

along with the Fort Smith
Police Department's

Major Crimes Unit,
responded to the scene.

Upon arriving at the scene,
we found a white female,

who is nude,

lying, for the most part,
facedown

off of a National Forest
service road,

approximately 30 feet or so
off of the roadway.

And the body had been there
for a period of time.

We did not have an estimation
on the time.

That will be left up for
the medical examiner's office.

- No comment.