All language subtitles for Cabin in the Woods S01 E05_track4_[eng]

St. Joseph Island is
a very isolated area.

Anything could happen down
there and you wouldn't see it

or hear it.

They told him that you don't
want to go down there.

If you go, you probably won't
come back.

There was a cabin.

And inside that cabin were
miserable living conditions.

The first thing that we found
was a human finger bone.

The second thing

was an elbow joint.

That was the worst thing
to hear.

No one deserves what happened
to her, no one does.

I'm so sorry.

At the time of this
investigation, I was the area

crime supervisor.

David Lopez was a man with
a mission, and he was here

looking for his daughter
who went missing on

St. Joseph Island.

Their last known location
was at a cabin

on a remote piece of property
in Canada.

I knew

that I had to send
a detective over there.

It's very, very remote.
You can't drive there.

There's bog and marsh and water
and trees and stumps.

And you have to walk up this
road to get to the cabin out in

the middle of the bush.

That officer

had to walk in there
in the dark.

It was mire, mud.

There's so many pitfalls
and dangers out there.

But he got there.

The property, it almost looked
like what you would see in

a horror movie.

That officer is in there
in the dark.

But when he was at the cabin,

he wasn't alone.

The first time I ever saw
Melody Lopez, it was 1993

when she had just moved
and she had just gotten to

school for the day.

Melody came in
and was stunning.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Black hair, dark lipstick,
and I was just like,

that's gonna be my friend.

Me and Melody were both 15 so
we went to the mall.

We went to the arcade.

Every day, she introduced me to
new music, to new ideas.

Melody always wanted everybody
just to be themselves.

Me and Mel were together every
day for that whole summer.

Melody was

actively present in
my life for six months,

but then she moved.

When Melody was a teenager,
her parents split up.

So Robin moved to
Eugene, Oregon.

And they decided that Melody
would live with David in

Columbus, Ohio.

Melody was his only child.
David was crazy about her.

I mean, he just
thought she hung the moon.

And they had a really special
relationship.

When she moved to Columbus,

we kept in touch for so long,
for years.

We would write letters back
and forth,

send each other pictures.

She found a lot of really great
friends when she moved to

Columbus, and they were all
very punk.

Melody always took and accepted
everybody for who they were,

and I think that's one of
the other reasons why she was

so drawn to the punk community,
because they were themselves

for themselves,
and didn't care about what

other people thought.

I talked to her one day,
and she said she had planned to

go down to Mardi Gras.

And I was like,
that sounds so cool.

And I was like,
"Melody, have fun.

Be safe.
Let me know when you get back."

So I remember when she got
back, Melody didn't talk about

the boys she met.
She met boys all the time.

But Melody met Shawn,
and she didn't talk about

anything else that trip.

I didn't hear much
about the trip.

I heard about Shawn and how
great he was and how cute

he was, and she was excited.

She really was dead set on him
from pretty much

the very beginning.

Like, she knew that
he was her one.

She had found her one person.

She said, "We're gonna settle
down in Oregon, get married,

buy a house, all the fun stuff
on the beach."

And then I learned that
she was pregnant.

I was so excited when she said
that, because I'm like,

we're gonna get to be
grownups together.

We're not gonna be kids.

Our parents aren't gonna have
to drive us around to visit

each other.

They don't have to pay
our phone bills.

We're gonna be grownups,
and we can see each other

again, and we can visit.

I wanted me and her to have
our babies together and grow

up, and it made me very happy.
But Shawn and Melody had a plan.

Her dad was a free spirit.

He had a history of hitchhiking
all over the country.

David used to hop trains,
and that's something I never

would have done.

But he told us stories
about that.

And Melody wanted to experiment
with that, like David had done.

Shawn and Melody were planning
to go see Shawn's parents

who lived in Ottawa.

They would hitchhike
through Canada,

maybe hopping some trains to
save money, and then go to

Eugene, where my sister Robin
was living.

That was the plan.
That's what she told her dad.

That's what she told Robin.
That's what they planned to do.

I don't know a lot
about Shawn.

I only spoke to Shawn once
for a moment,

but, uh, he made me
feel worried.

That trip was going to be
their last big adventure before

they settled down.

And then time starts passing,
and Robin and David are not

hearing anything from Melody.

They're not getting any more
phone calls, none.

She would call David every
three or four days and always

let him know where she was
and who she was with.

When she fell silent,
that sparked something

in David.
You just get that intuition.

So David's wheels were turning.

David started his own
investigation to

track her down.

David was talking to Shawn's
parents, trying to figure out

what to do.

David went all over Columbus
looking for

Melody's friends to talk to
them and see if anybody had

heard anything,
and nobody had heard.

It's just silence.

They were in communication with
Shawn's parents, too.

They had silence from Shawn,
no phone calls.

None.

It was extremely frustrating,
because what were they to do?

What was Robin to do?

She's in Eugene,
Oregon, waiting for

her daughter to

you know,
suddenly appear there.

One day, I talked to Robin,
her mother, where she told me

about someone who showed up
at her house.

His name was Chris,
Chris Rogers.

Chris had told Robin that
he had been traveling with

Mel and Shawn.

Robin asked where Melody was,
and he got cagey.

That's when Robin knew
something was definitely wrong.

Chris had said he left them

in a cabin.

Not a nice place, nothing nice.
Scary shack.

He had said that you
don't want to go down there.

If you go, you probably
won't come back.

The last we heard,
Shawn was taking Melody to meet

his parents, and this guy,
Chris Rogers,

turned up at
my sister Robin's house

in Eugene, Oregon.

Chris was
an interesting character.

He was pretty rough
around the edges.

And he basically said that
Melody and Shawn were traveling

together with him.

And so they were hitchhiking
outside of Ottawa,

near where
Shawn's parents lived.

Chris Rogers was
a drifter, a skateboarder.

Chris Rogers described himself
as a friend of Shawn's.

Melody mentioned several
of her friends,

but she never talked
about Chris.

Robin had a really hard time
because she didn't know if

Chris was being honest.

Chris said they had hitchhiked
to Ottawa, and started

hitchhiking west to
Sault Ste Marie.

There's an international rail
line there that

crosses the border.

And they were going to pick up
a train there and then head out

to the US West Coast.

According to Chris, it was
around August the 4th,

1999, when they'd been picked
up by a man in a truck whose

name was Robert.

They rode with him
into the night.

He was financially flush enough
that he looked after them.

He stopped and got 'em snacks
and something to drink.

You know, everything
seemed fine.

He seemed really sweet.

During this time, the driver of
the vehicle, Robert,

he said, "Well, we live in
St. Joseph Island and that's

really close to
Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.

Why don't you come up?

He talked them into coming
to his cabin.

They were gonna celebrate
his younger brother's birthday.

They were gonna have a party
and these are all young people.

And he invited them to come
and stay with him,

come and take a break,
relax, come for the party.

And they decided to do that.

I don't think they for one
minute believed or knew how

remote it really was.

St. Joseph Island is
a very isolated area.

The forest is so dense and it
goes for miles and miles.

Lots of trees, lots of old camp
roads that wind in and out

of the bush.

Anything could happen down
there and you wouldn't see it

or hear it.

To get to the man's cabin...

...you can't drive there.
You go up and the road ends.

And they had to walk
a mile up this trail.

It would be the very early
hours of the morning of

August the 5th.

They get to the cabin.

The driver of the vehicle,
Robert, his cousin and brother

were there.

The property was
100% isolated.

They had a generator,
but there was no hydro,

there was no water.

Chris said they had a big
bonfire going, everybody was

having a good time.

The next day, they had
a lovely day.

From what Chris said,
they hung out,

they had some beers.

They were a hunting family,
so they played some

target practice.

And the decision was made to
stay one more day,

continue the party.

There was a lot of alcohol
flowing one evening

and Melody was tired and had
gone into the cabin.

Chris had said
Melody went to bed then.

I can imagine Melody thought
one more day of rest and then

they were leaving to head home.

It would have been around
8 o'clock at night

when they ran out of alcohol.

And about 9 o'clock that night,
the guys decided that

they needed more beer.

And it was cheaper and easier,
apparently, to go across

the border to get it.

The United States is

minimum 45 minutes away.

Melody was left at the cabin,

and Robert went with Chris
Rogers and Shawn Barrett.

When they get to the border,
Shawn didn't have

his passport with him.

He got left on the Canadian
side and Chris Rogers

and Robert crossed over
into Michigan,

made alcohol purchases.

Chris Rogers was an American
and had a minor record from

the United States.

And because of that,
Chris Rogers was not allowed

back into Canada.

So he was turned back,
sent back on the American side.

Chris was left to make his way
across the United States to

Oregon, and Shawn and Melody
were gonna follow.

But apparently Shawn and Melody
had never made it there.

Melody's parents did not have
the full story.

And they had

absolutely no idea anything
more other than the story that

they get from Chris Rogers.

It was heartbreaking that
they didn't know where she was.

Was she still

at that cabin,
or had they moved on?

Were they still hitchhiking?
What had happened?

Nobody knew.

If it was true,
Shawn and Melody were left here

in Canada

at a cabin in the middle
of the bush.

And they had no idea who
these people are

or what they were capable
of doing.

David wanted to file a missing
persons report.

And he tried to file in Canada
because that's where he last

heard from her.

And they said, "Well,
but you live in Columbus

and she's from Columbus,
so you have to file there."

And so he tried to file in
Columbus, Ohio.

And then he was told,
"Yeah, but she's headed to

Eugene, Oregon, so you have to
file with Eugene, Oregon."

Even though Melody had never
been there, she was just on

the way there.

It was sort of like they were
getting the runaround a lot.

The police were saying,
"She's an adult.

She's not missing.
She's just running around."

Shawn's parents had
the same issue.

David was aware that she'd been
on a remote piece of property

in Canada with a man,
but they had

absolutely no idea anything
more other than

his name was Robert.

I was working as a reporter,
and I received a call in

the office that there was
someone down on St. Joseph

Island who was looking for
their daughter

and putting up posters.

He had contacted various
police agencies.

But had been for months.

However, nobody was
really listening.

Because David, I think, is from
outside of Canada, I don't

think he knew all the places
that he could go, what was

available to him.

So he was going to
the wrong places.

And they weren't always able to
give him information either.

It was December of 1999.

David was about to
give up, and went

to the border crossing again.

David was lucky enough to meet
the same border guard that was

working the night that
Chris got turned back.

So he remembered Chris.

The border guard remembered
that whole incident because it

wasn't a pleasant one.

So because David had the date
and all the information from

Chris, the border patrol guy
looked it up, and that's how

he was able to find the full
name of the person they were

with, Robert Armstrong.

And he had a cabin on
St. Joseph Island.

David wanted to go right now,
wanted to go to the cabin.

But he was told that Robert
Armstrong had some records of

sexual assault.

They were not people that
you just happened to go by

and knock on their door.

David was told at the border to
go to Ontario Provincial

Police, which covers outlying
areas from municipalities.

The population is
sparser,

and St. Joseph Island
is their jurisdiction

and that they would be able
to help.

The OPP is similar to
a state police force.

He didn't even know that
the OPP existed, didn't know

anything about it until then.

We knew the cabin.
We knew the people.

David Lopez was a man
with a mission.

At one point, I remember David
saying, "I thought maybe she was

being held hostage somewhere."

So immediately, I assigned
a detective to go to

the Armstrong property

and see if anybody's there.

That officer was
Detective Jason Nickel.

Detective Nickel had to walk in
there in the dark.

It was mire, mud.

There's so many pitfalls
and dangers out there.

Amazing he got in there without
getting hurt.

There were wrecked vehicles in
the yard at the man's cabin,

and they got wrecked on
the road

trying to get in there.

There was a wood stove inside
the cabin, but there wasn't

much firewood around,

and it was cold.

When Detective Nickel got
there, it looked like Robert

Armstrong was no longer there.

There's no one else
at the camp.

The cabin had beds
and mattresses and blankets,

but that wasn't all.

When Detective Nickel

was sent
to the Armstrong property...

...inside that cabin was Robert
Armstrong's younger brother,

Richard Armstrong.

Richard is there alone
in December

under miserable
living conditions.

Richard was 19 years old.
He was vulnerable.

He was young.

He eventually told police that
Robert and Dale McCrae,

the cousin, left him at
the cabin for the winter.

Detective Nickel asked about
Melody, Shawn, and Chris

being there, and response was,
can't help you,

never saw them,
don't know who they are.

From being a police officer,
Jason learned to take

their story, listen to them,
write it down,

and then when you're done,

you can confront them
with their lies.

And then Jason said, "I think
those people are still here."

And then as Jason pressed him,

Richard actually turned around,
and he said, "If my brother knew

"I was talking to you,

he'll kill me too."

And that was suspicious.

He wouldn't say what happened
to those two kids because

he was concerned
about his life.

We, at that point,
ensured him of his safety.

And we took Richard Armstrong
into protective custody.

We put him up in a motel,
and we left an officer with him

at all times throughout
the initial stages of

this investigation.

We knew we needed extensive
work and further interviews.

We needed scene examination.
We needed scene security.

We didn't know where Shawn
and Melody were, but we had

information that they had been
there, that there was

a disruption at the border,
that Chris Rogers, who was part

of the traveling companionship,
had said Melody was left

at the cabin.

We had enough information to
conduct a more exhaustive

investigation at
the Armstrong property.

We undertook a search
in the area.

It's a good-sized island,
but it's a prime hunting area.

And the Armstrong cabin was
nowhere near any cleared fields

nor farm fields.
It's dense, thick, heavy,

bush.
We couldn't find them.

And then we literally moved
old, rotten, dead trees

and threw them to the side
until we got to what looked

like was a makeshift grave.
and we just peeled back the top,

and then we found
the first bone.

My name is

Scott
Fairgreave.

I am a PhD
forensic anthropologist.

I interpret skeletal remains by
essentially building up

a biography of the person in
life from the bones--

a bone biography.

I came out to the scene because
police had never seen anything

like this before.

It was at that point we could
say the bone was a finger bone.

But then I focused directly on
the fire pit that,

shall we say,
got my full attention.

It's had so much debris in it.
There wasn't just ash and logs.

There's a cardboard box sitting
in it, full of ash.

What is all the metal debris
that is inside?

Nothing about this looked
typical, looked right.

It's wintertime.

We had tents set up over top of
the fire pit with propane

heaters running inside
the tents trying to

thaw the ground

so we could excavate just even
the fire pit.

Then myself and another
officer, we started with

shovels and we dug until
we found another bone.

The second thing eventually
uncovered in the fire pit

was an elbow joint

that had been crushed in place.

We have to dig deeper.

Once we had melted the ground,

uh, it was producing a lot of
bone, but it was fragmented.

I could say that we had remains
that represented

a young male

and a young female,
young adults.

But as far as a positive
identification was concerned,

it wasn't possible.

So the big question in my mind
was, as we were doing that,

who died, where did they die,

when did they die,

and what was
the manner of death?

Robert Armstrong's younger
brother, Richard, was brought

back to the scene.

And seeing what the remains
were on the property,

and we pressed him again.

Richard immediately broke.

And a statement subsequently
followed with what we believe

to be the truth.

It was the very early hours of
the morning of the 6th

of August, 1999,

when Robert and Shawn got
back from the trip

across the border,

Richard Armstrong,
his cousin Dale McCrae,

and Melody had been asleep
in the cabin.

Robert had developed
an interest in Melody.

Robert Armstrong had made
a comment to Shawn about wanting

to have sex with Melody,
and she's pregnant and it won't

matter now anyway.

Shawn took offense to that,
and a fight ensued.

Robert Armstrong took a shovel

and hit Shawn with the shovel.

Robert then went,

retrieved the gun that had been
out during target practice

earlier in the day,

and shot Shawn dead.

Robert Armstrong tells
Dale McCrae,

"Grab his feet, help me throw
him on the fire."

Dale McCrae and Robert throw
Shawn Barrett on the campfire

and throw a whole bunch of
firewood on too.

Robert still had the gun.

He wakes Melody up,
tells Melody, "Shawn's outside,

he wants to talk to you."

Melody walks outside and says
to Robert Armstrong,

"Where's Shawn?"

And Robert Armstrong tells her,
"Look in the fire."

Melody turns around saying,
"Don't kill me, don't kill me,

please don't kill me,
I'm pregnant."

Robert Armstrong pulls a gun
out and shoots Melody.

Richard Armstrong said
that they put her body

into the fire pit as well,
and then they proceeded to burn

all of Shawn's and Melody's
possessions in that fire pit.

We found in the pit itself,
all sorts of artifacts,

but we found a bracelet,

uh, that had some sort of
a Hindi script on it.

It was badly charred
and bent by the heat.

And as it turns out,
Melody's mother

has the mate to that bracelet.

They bought them together,
apparently,

at some carnival.

The bracelet was key, as it was
the most profound piece of

physical evidence supporting
an identification of Melody.

That was the worst thing
to hear.

She didn't get a chance to
hold her baby.

And that her and Shawn didn't
get a chance to be

the good parents I know
they would have been.

Please excuse me again.
I'm so sorry.

Really tried not to let
the tears go.

And it doesn't matter how
long it's been.

It doesn't get any easier.

I don't think there's any
amount of time that I'll be

able to not be upset when
I talk about this.

Because she didn't--

No one deserves what
happened to her.

No one does.

Robert and Dale were arrested
near their home in Windsor,

Ontario in December.

Robert received a life sentence
for the first degree murder of

Melody Lopez and second degree
murder for the shooting death

of Shawn Barrett.

Dale McCrae, the cousin of
the Armstrongs, received six

years for accessory
after the fact.

His sentence was reversed on
appeal, his defense being that

if he didn't listen,
he was next.

If it wasn't for David Lopez

and what he did,
Shawn and Melody

would still be missing.

The Armstrongs would still be
living their lives,

and no one would know
what happened.

That man would never give up.

He'd be looking for her today.

He was going to
find his daughter,

no question.

And I don't think David
and Robin ever got over it.

Robin passed away

in 2018.

David was ill,
and passed away in 2020.

But maybe they are with
Melody now.

It was a requirement
for Cindy to live in

the middle of nowhere.

Cindy liked to be off
in a cabin.

You might not hear
somebody scream.

Is anybody going to find me?
Are they gonna know how I died?