Chapter 4 - THE FIRST MISSING PERSON
Ryan reopened the four disappearances.
Hannah Cole.
Marcus Lee.
Tara Benson.
Elliot Graves.
At first:
no connection.
Different jobs.
Different ages.
Different neighborhoods.
Then he searched vehicle footage.
Three cases had dark SUVs nearby.
Different makes?
Maybe.
Closer inspection:
same wheel pattern.
Same cracked right taillight.
Same silver scrape.
White undercoat visible in one frame.
One vehicle.
One disguise.
Then an older case surfaced.
Two years earlier.
Victor Hale.
Financial investigator.
Disappeared after leaving a courthouse parking garage.
His vehicle was found abandoned.
Three days later, animal blood and human belongings were discovered in an industrial drainage area.
No body.
Police theorized:
violent death,
body moved.
Case stalled.
Ryan remembered it.
He had worked secondary review.
Michael had been first responder.
At the time, lab found mixed animal proteins around the scene.
Investigators thought:
nearby butcher waste contamination.
Ryan stared at the report.
Butcher waste.
Same method.
Then he saw a photograph.
Plastic container.
Date written in black marker.
Same style as the hidden room would later reveal.
Ryan felt sick.
Victor Hale might not have been killed where police thought.
The scene may have been staged.
Then Michael’s original report.
One line:
Observed unidentified male exiting service corridor near drainage access. Male stated he was municipal maintenance.
No ID recorded.
Why?
Emergency scene.
Too many people.
Michael later told Ryan he regretted it.
Then forgot.
May you like
Someone else did not.
The kidnapper may have remembered Michael’s face for two years.
