Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BONUS EPISODE | Zone 7: 25-Year Pursuit of Justice for Melissa Wolfenbarger

Episode Date: September 9, 2024

Zone 7 celebrates its 100th episode in alignment with the arrest that solved the 25-year-old case of Melissa Wolfenbarger. Crime Scene Investigator Sheryl McCollum is joined by Norma and Tina, the mother and sister of Melissa Wolfenbarger to discuss the complexities of the cold case, the unwavering dedication from numerous supporters involved, and ultimately what led to the arrest of Melissa’s husband, Christopher Wolfenbarger. Subscribe to Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum, available on all audio platforms: https://link.chtbl.com/Zone7See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi, guys. Nancy Grace here. I've got to tell you about an incredible podcast. I firmly believe you will not only love, laugh, but learn from. It's Zone 7 with my longtime friend and colleague, forensics expert, Cheryl McCollum. As a crime scene investigator with years of experience in the system, Cheryl brings a treasure trove of knowledge to Zone 7, diving into cold cases with an incredible perspective that only someone in the business could bring. She brings on incredible experts directly from her Zone 7 network. Follow Zone 7 on your favorite podcast app.

And without any further ado, here is my friend Cheryl McCollum. Y'all, you don't always get the call. When you work cold cases, it could be five years, 10 years, 25 years before you get that call. But honey, the family of Melissa Wolfenberger got that call. Joining me today is Melissa's mama, Norma, and sister, Tina. Norma and Tina, welcome to Zone 7. Thanks, M, Cheryl. Honey, it's been 25 years for you. And Norma, for you and I, it's been seven, seven years since you walked into an event where I was speaking. And you had an 8x10 picture of Melissa. And you walked up to me and said, my daughter was beheaded in Atlanta. Will you help me? That's exactly what I did.

Well, you've been fighting a long time and you've been talking to a lot of people, taking that eight by 10 picture with you everywhere. So I want to give just a little background. In 1998, Thanksgiving is the last time you spoke to your daughter, Melissa. Right. What happened? What happened after that? What happened after that is I didn't hear anything else from her. I mean, she didn't call Christmas. You know, after she had asked for a specific gift for Christmas,

she didn't want anything that was store-bought. She wanted something that I had to look for and find to be able to give to her. I had to look through a lot of pictures to find a good one that I liked and thought that she would like. And then when she didn't show up, she didn't call, I got worried. All she wanted was a picture of her and her grandfather. Right. She called him Papa. And she didn't come get it, the sentimental gift.

Right. Tina, when did you first know that Melissa was missing? When my dad walked into the restaurant where I worked at and said, where's your sister? I said, I don't know. You hadn't talked to her? He said, no. He said, she didn't, you know, we talked to her Thanksgiving day, Christmas day. She didn't come. She didn't even call your mama for her birthday. And that right there was the sign because Melissa always called mom. So that's when now the whole family by February is worried sick.

Yep. So April of 1999, a skull is found in the middle of Avon Avenue. And your mama, Norma, you're watching the news. I was because I didn't know where she was. If they said anything about a body being found anywhere on any of the local channels, I would always stop and watch the news. And when I sat down and watched the news, they said it was a male. And I said, okay. And then I thought, well, Avon Avenue is, I think, on the north side of town.

Because, you know, and going around 285, I saw an exit that had Avon Avenue. And I said, well, that's the north side of town, not in the same area. So I kind of brushed it off. So you were somewhat relieved that that wasn't your child. Right. And then the skulls identified as a Caucasian male. So we move on. Now, something else happened in your life that was difficult at this same time. Your husband, Carl, is arrested.

Four years later. Four years later. So Carl is arrested for several murders that occurred in the 70s. Right. Around that same time frame that Carl is arrested, he decides, hey, I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to cop to it. I'm going to tell him I did it.

I'm going to keep Norma out of it. I'm going to just go into court, raise my hand, and confess to all of it. And that's exactly what he did. In three separate courthouses in three separate counties. Yeah. So I'm just going to state very clearly, Carl Patton is a convicted killer. Carl Patton has admitted it. He's never lied about it once they came to him. Carl and I have been exchanging letters since 2021.

When I started on this case, it was important for me to have contact with Melissa's father, mother, and sister to develop an accurate victimology. Through those letters, I learned a lot. I learned a lot about Carl. I learned a lot about the Patton family. I learned a lot about Norma and Tina. I learned about their loyalty, their love for each other, and their unwavering devotion to get justice for Melissa. So Carl goes to prison and he says, you know what, Norma, I'm here. I'm stuck here. I can't search for Melissa. I can't do anything to try to help find her or solve the situation for y'all as a family. So he reaches out to the person that arrested him

and he says, hey, you caught me after 25 years. You must be a pretty good detective. Will you help look for my daughter? And to credit that detective said yes so he goes out and he says huh there's a skull unidentified and it's literally feet from the front door of where melissa's husband works so he goes to the at Atlanta Police Department and says, are you sure this is a male? And they get the dental records. And what happens, Norma? On March 17, 2003, he pulled up in my yard and I saw him when he pulled up and I walked outside on the porch and he come up standing there talking and he told me she had been identified and what had happened to her. And I just busted out screaming and yelling.

And my two oldest grandkids, which were Tina's, came out to see what was wrong, what I was upset about. Tina, you are literally walking down the street and you get a phone call from a friend that says, hey girl, have you watched the news? Oh no, it wasn't a friend. It was my ex-husband. Oh, well let me change that now because I don't want that out there in the universe. Okay. Okay. But here's, but that's the important. Because again, even an ex-husband would reach out to you because this was going to be so devastating for you and he knew it. So what does he tell you? I said, I don't think mom wanted to be the one to notify me like that. So he took it upon himself to do it. I was too upset to make that call.

Yeah. So now you have confirmation that Melissa was beheaded and dismembered because you know from the news there was a skull found in April, but that same June of 1999, four more trash bags were found containing her arms and legs. Now, Norma, that to me is an unbearable scenario to know that that is your baby. It was, and it's been hard. Well, it'll forever be hard. And Tina, you and I have talked a lot, and I know you. I know you now pretty good. And, you know, what do you do with it? You're now the surviving child. Your dad is in prison. Your mom is destroyed. And you are now in the middle

trying to help make your mama work through it, get through it, survive it somehow. You've got your children. You've got Melissa's children. You've got your dad. And you have been the one to me that has glued this family together. I've tried. It's not easy sometimes. Oh, I know. I remember the phone call when you told me you were headed somewhere to burn some stuff down.

So, and those are just natural feelings. I mean, you get frustrated, you get angry, of course. And especially when things just seem so unjust. She did not deserve what happened to her. And I have said over and over and over, and I will say it again right here. The sins of the father have nothing to do with what happened to Melissa. Right. And here's the deal about Carl.

I'll say it again. Carl's in prison. Carl deserves to be in prison for what he did. But what happened to Melissa, she did not deserve in any way whatsoever. Nope, she sure didn't. And with what Carl did, that doesn't mean that something should be able to happen to Melissa and we not get justice for her. That's right. There should never be a killer walking the streets free. None of us should be okay with that.

Nobody should be okay with that. Nobody should be okay with that. So the reality is now, y'all, now the Atlanta Police Department knows they have a homicide of Melissa Wolfenberger. That's a completely different scenario. So they start to look at the facts. Did her husband report her missing? Did her family report her missing? When was the last time she showed up at work? When was the last time she showed up anywhere she was supposed to be? Court? A doctor's appointment? To vote? Where was she? Was there any sighting of her? Was there any phone call, any letter, anything since 1998? And the answer was no, nothing. And so her husband said, well, I saw her. She was walking down the street and she told me she was leaving to go to California to start a new life. And then

he said she left over another man. Then he said she left because she was going to be doing some counterfeit identification cards and passports. I mean, he has said several things that just don't make any sense. And here's the bottom line. Would Melissa have ever left her children? No way on this earth would she have left those two kids. When I had my oldest two down here, she helped me every day take care of them. And she loved them just as much as she did her own. She bought the year that Kimberly started school, Melissa got clothes for her to wear to school.

There is no way, there's no way on this earth that she would ever leave those babies. Every time there's a case where there's small children, and in this case they were one and two years old, and you hear somebody say, well, she just took off. She just left. She wanted a new life. That doesn't ring true. And in this case, she didn't have a car. She didn't have any money to speak of. She didn't take any clothes. She didn't take any jewelry. She didn't take anything that meant something to her. And I'm going to tell you again, the only thing that child wanted for Christmas was a photograph of her and her grandfather. This was a family-oriented child. And I'm going to tell y'all something. Can you be two things at once? Yes. You can be a sex worker and a fantastic mother. You can be a doctor and a roller derby queen. You can

be a preacher and a break dancer. I mean, you can be these things that seem polar opposite that are not, if that makes any sense. And when you look at Melissa's life, there is no way. If she wanted to leave Christopher, listen, y'all, we can leave a man, okay? Because we can get another one. May not be a good one, but we can get another one. But we don't leave our children because we can't get those children back. Anytime Melissa left him, she wanted to take the kids. She always went back take the kids. She always went back to the children.

And when she left, he hounded her and hounded her to come back. Tracked her down. But not in 1998. He tracked her down one time, but he didn't track her down in December when she left. That's right. He didn't have to. That's right. He didn't have to. He knew where she left. That's right. He didn't have to. That's right. He didn't have to. He knew where she was.

Same reason he didn't call you, asking you, have you seen her? He didn't call Tina, have you seen her? He didn't call work. He didn't call anybody. She was even on probation at the time. He didn't reach out to the probation officer. He had called them before

to tell them stuff about her, but he sure Lord didn't after 1998. Sure didn't. Y'all have 25 years. Y'all have had some roadblocks. Y'all have had no activity at times. Y'all have changed detectives over and over. People retire. They transfer out. They get promoted out. You've had different ADAs, assistant district attorneys. You've had to reintroduce yourself to the ADAs and reintroduce Melissa to make sure they knew who she was. You've had to go through the change of the DA. Y'all have gone from Paul Howard to Fonnie Willis. Thank God for that. We tried to get an appointment with Paul Howard.

And we're told that we couldn't even make an appointment without her file being on his desk. We couldn't even get past the front door, Cheryl. And then a high school friend of mine, Donna Jones, meets Tina. Yeah. And, you know, Donna and I have known each other since 1979. And me and Donna and Walt went to college together. We've just had a great time. And she's a tremendous person.

So when Norma walked in, I noticed her right away. And this was like a kind of a formal dinner type event. And Norma walks in and she's got like Bermuda shorts on and a tank top and a straw hat. Like she just came off the beach. It was hot, Cheryl. It was hot. It was absolutely hot. But I noticed her and I noticed she was hugging an 8x10 frame.

So I knew it was somebody's mama. And they were either missing or murdered. And again, when she walked up to me, she said, this is my daughter, Melissa, and showed me the picture. Beautiful. Looked so kind. Looked so sweet in the picture. She was. And she said she was beheaded in Atlanta. Will you help me? And I said, well, yes. I mean, how in the world do you say no to that? And I said, come to my office next week and let's talk about it. And that was 2017. And she came the very next week and y'all, she brought a case file. It took about two hand trucks to bring it in, I think. And she walked in and she sat down and she said, look, I know you've already said

you would help me, but there's something I got to tell you before we go any further. And I said, okay. And she said, my husband is in prison for murder and I helped him. And if that's okay, will you still help me? And I thought to myself, I don't know that anybody has ever been more honest with me in their life because I'm in a business where people lie to me pretty much every day, all day. And so I told her, of course. And then she starts talking about her husband. And I went, wait a minute, is your husband the Flint River Killer? And she said, yes. And then she said, and he hates that moniker. He hates that nickname. So after that meeting, we decided to put together an action plan and we went to work

and we had several experts that joined us so willingly, donated their time and talents. And it's the first time in history that a convicted serial killer became an actual victim of crime, reached out to law enforcement for help, who then reached out to a nonprofit for help, the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute. Then what happened was a new DA was elected, and Fonnie Willis became the DA of Fulton County. Before she took office, she agreed to meet with me and I laid out five cases that I thought she could solve relatively quickly. They were all, of course, cold cases. I should have said that. One of them was Melissa Wolfenberger. And Ms. Willis told me

that she was going to put together a cold case unit and she knew who she wanted to head it up. And then she was going to put together a task force and wanted me on it. The first assistant district attorney that she put over the cold case unit was Adrienne Love. And when I tell y'all Adrienne Love hit the ground running and went to work, she met with me and Karen Greer and Norma and Tina and Dwayne Thompson and Trey Sargent out at the crime scene. She walked it. And here's the other thing. She knew the whole history. She knew the whole family history. She knew where Carl was. She knew what had happened in the 70s. She knew everything. When she went over to the car and your mama was sitting in the passenger seat and they just talked and your mama was able to give her the victimology as only a mama can.

And she watched that dog work. Trace worked two of her canines. Dr. Thompson was out there with a metal detector. Karen Greer was out there covering it. And I'm going to tell you, Karen's involvement has been invaluable. She has stayed on this case for 20 years, maybe the whole 25, but I know for a fact 20. And she has been devoted and she's just been on this thing is all I can tell you. And then we had another big push and another big person to come up and help.

Nancy Grace said, I want to cover it. I won't in. Norma, do you remember the day I called you and said, Nancy Grace wants you on her show? Yeah. I said, really? Or something along that line? No, I think it was really. I think that's exactly what happened. And we knew at that point, we're going to get some national attention. And when that sort of thing starts to happen, the first thing I pray about is please somebody come forward. Please somebody hear about this and remember something. Or maybe call and say, hey, the police never interviewed me, but here's something that I know. Because in cold cases, that happens all the time.

So you and Tina, again, put it out there, buck up and get your emotions all twisted, because this is not easy for y'all to talk about. You'll feel it the whole day. It brings everything to the surface, so to speak. But there you are. And honey, Nancy Grace did what only Nancy Grace could do. And she stirred that pot, baby. It was awesome. And then she comes to me and she says, you need to do a podcast.

And I'm like, I ain't got time to do a podcast. I don't know how to do a podcast. I'm not even sure what one is. And she said, well, I'll help you. And I'm gonna get you some folks. So along with Karen and Trace and a ton of other experts came on and we did, I think, a seven or nine part series on Melissa's case. The series that we did on Zone 7, normal, we of course had you and Tina. We had the original detective, Detective Calhoun. We had several of the experts, Karen Greer, Trey Sargent, Dwayne Thompson, Joe Scott Morgan, just unbelievable talent and expertise to help. And there have been other people like Betsy Ramsey and Leslie Bailey and Dr. Joni Johnson and Joe Giacalone and Lisa Robicoff Mooney. All of these people have said, yes, I want to help. Yes, I see that we can get this into the finish line. Well, then once Nancy Grace got involved, she took us to CrimeCon. We did a live wine and crime there. Then we did a live crime stories with Nancy Grace right from the stage. Well, then that led us to Dateline because there was a producer there that I talked to and I was like, look, y'all need to cover this case because I think there's some folks out there. And if we shake enough trees, somebody's going to be able to come forward. From the series that we did on Zone 7, a witness came forward.

Now, that by itself to me was amazing. That Nancy had covered it, Dateline had covered it, CrimeCon had covered it. All of this information is out there. And that led this person to Zone 7. Once they heard every single episode, they reached out to me on social media and said, are you still covering Melissa's case? Well, honey, I couldn't type back fast enough. Yes. And then they said that they had some memory of the way that Christopher treated her at a party once. So now I'm thinking, y'all, this thing actually just got some new legs.

So I reached out to Detective Shepard, gave him the information, and he was on it. I mean, immediately. He talked to the person, interviewed the person, and then he went back and interviewed Christina, Melissa's daughter. And then some dominoes started to fall pretty quick, didn't they? Yep. All right, Tina, talk about that a little bit. What started to happen pretty quick? Oh, boy. Let's see. We went to CrimeCon, and then ever since we came back from Orlando, it's been pretty much nonstop.

And people keep asking. So from CrimeCon, we got a call from the Georgia Writers Museum, and they said, can y'all come here and do a Wine and Crime as well, which we did. And Joe Scott Morgan joined us. Now, I'm going to talk about Norma just a minute. She loves her some Joe Scott Morgan, y'all. And when he walked into that room, for those of y'all that are fans of body bags, you're making the right decision, but you need to be a fan of Joe Scott Morgan. He is one of the most comforting, calming, reassuring people I've ever met. Compassionate.

He is so compassionate. The day that we got the call that Christopher Wolfenberger has been arrested for the murder of Melissa Wolfenberger, I thought Joe Scott almost had a better reaction than Norma. Because he knows Norma. He knows Tina. He has worked this case. He went through the autopsy like nobody else could have done it. He gave her information, not as an expert to a crime victim.

He spoke to her parent to parent with as much love and concern as I've ever seen in my life. So they love his voice. They love the way he just presents himself with such confidence and such joy. But the reality is, I think that y'all knew y'all had a true advocate in him. Yeah, we do. You do. Absolutely. So again, he came over to Atlanta from Alabama and was with us. And then the Hamptons, who done it, up in New York called and said, can you present the whining crime here? So you literally have people from all over the country, from the 5,000 people that were at CrimeCon from all over to New York to Alabama. I mean, you've just got people invested in what happened. And most happened and most importantly, the unjust of it that everybody wanted to see somebody

in custody for this murder. Norma, how are you feeling right now today? For lack of a better description, on cloud nine, this has been a busy couple of days, but I just, I feel like I'm a lot younger than what I am I'm walking a little faster and getting things done and

it's just been amazing and Karen Greer when I found out he had been arrested and I called you and you were out of town and found out Karen Greer was out of town. Well, Karen Greer called me yesterday to check on me to see how I was doing after the press conference. And see, I just want to say something. I love her. I adore her. And this is one reason

why. And I have said over and over, and I'm going to say it again, as good as she is on TV, she's better when that camera's off. It's the truth. She is lovely and kind and generous, but I'm going to tell you something. Her heart, she leads with it. There have been more than one time where she and I have been at a scene and Melissa's crime scene was one of them. And she would turn to me and she would say, I am no longer a reporter and you are no longer a crime scene investigator. We are two mamas standing here. And that's how she feels. Cheryl, when we were at CrimeCon last year and I was sitting on the side, she was probably 50 feet away from me as she walked by.

And I glanced up and realized it was her. And I yelled back, Karen. And she turned around and she thought where she was headed and come back up to me to talk to me. Well, she's been in this thing. I mean, she's been in it longer than I have and just stellar and again, leads with her heart. And she's devoted to Melissa. She's devoted for justice. And I can't say nothing, but I just love her. I adore her. I respect her. I got nothing but accolades. And she always looks flawless. Good Lord. So y'all have had her. Y'all have had Nancy Grace. Now let's talk about that spitfire for a minute. You know, Nancy is another one.

You know exactly how she feels. She can't hide it. And I know when we did her show. She puts it out there. She puts it out there. But, you know, she feels. And here was the really touching thing. She called me after Crime Stories of Nancy Grace when she broke the news about the arrest. And she said,

you know, this is the anniversary of Keith's murder. No. And she said it's always just under the surface and anything can make it rise to the top. It could be a song. It could be his favorite food. It could be a memory. But when this kind of thing happens, she feels it on more levels than most people because she has lived losing a loved one to murder. So she's connected to y'all in an extraordinary way. So again, her heart on this thing is pretty clear. Now, Tina, you at the press conference were extraordinary. And in that moment, when you could have been selfish and you could have talked all about your sister, all about your mama, all about you and everything that y'all have done and your dad to get justice

for your sister, you didn't do that. You took the opportunity to thank other people, which you did not have to do in that moment. And then you did the most extraordinary thing that I've seen. Through your tears and your heartbreak, you stopped to help other people. Tell everybody what you did. You know, it was like I had so many emotions going right then, just like I still do. I don't know. I'm happy one second, and next second, I'm in tears, and then I'm happy again, and then my heart's breaking again like it's back 25 years ago. I have tried so hard to be strong for my mom, especially. It's a little different with dad because dad's strong,

but I can see mom and how she is suffering because her and Melissa were so close, but I fought really, really hard to get this done for my sister, but I couldn't have done it by myself. And you and Nancy Grace and Karen Greer, I love all three of y'all. I cannot get up there and not say that if it wasn't for y'all, we wouldn't be standing there. Because we wouldn't be. If Donna hadn't introduced me to you, Mom would have never met you.

We would have never met Nancy Grace. We would have never met Karen Greer. You know what I'm saying? And I had to tell them people thank you. And I had to tell Atlanta PD thank you, even though, you know, at times I've been like, Daggum, get off your butts, guys. But, you know. Oh, yeah.

Had to calm her down quite a few times. Her and her Carl, too. Her dad. I had both of them. I said, y'all got to be patient. This takes time. But mom, me and dad do not have patience. Oh, yeah.

I have called her Carl Jr. more than once. No, no, no. Even better, I have a customer that grew up with my daddy that calls me Hot Shot Jr. There you go. Hot Shot. Hot Shot Jr. because that's my daddy's nickname. So, Tina, again, I appreciate that so much. You will never know what that meant to me personally, just to hear you say that. And it really touched me. And Huck and Caroline were like, Mom, that was so crazy. She would say that, you know, about you. But it means a lot to me. You have no idea. But what I'm asking is what you did in that moment, which was so selfless when you tried to protect other people.

What did you say from that podium? You know, my sister was it was she suffered with domestic violence. Chris abused her. I don't know how many times I saw her with bruises and scratches and handprints around her throat and you know I could not get her to listen to me as much as I tried and I mean I tried really hard mom and dad have no idea how much I tried to get Melissa away from Chris behind doors. You know what I'm saying? And I do not want my sister's case, her death, her murder, as brutal as it was to be in vain, to be for nothing.

There's got to be a reason why it happened. And to me, it's to help other people to get other domestic violence people out of what they're in. Amen. I believe that. And I believe you and Melissa are going to be able to save a lot of lives. Tell a Melissa story. Maybe somebody will actually listen and realize, hey, this could be me. This could be my mama. This could be my sister. This could be my daughter. Come on, y'all.

Wake up. Domestic violence is real. It's not a lie. It's not a made up thing that Hollywood made up. It's true. It's real. And it happens every day. Amen.

Norma, where are you headed when we hang up? As soon as we hang up, I'm headed to Coastal State Prison where Carl is to be able to sit down and tell him about this week and everything that's going on. Because he needs to hear it. He's had some health issues recently and he needs to something to hold on to. You know, this case got started because a detective went to the prison, met with Carl, and promised Carl he would help him. And one of the things that touched me so much is we got the call on Tuesday, but Carl wasn't going to be able to call home till Thursday, so he wasn't going to know there was an arrest. But A.B. Calhoun, the original detective.

I called him to tell him about the arrest. Tell us what he did. He was the fourth person I called. And when he answered the phone, he said, I'm sitting here waiting on your call. I said, OK. So anyway, on the conversation, he asked me about Carl, as he did quite frequently. And I told him Carl didn't know, and he wouldn't know until Thursday, because that was when he was going to call home. He said, I know some higher up.

I don't know. I don't have the number, but I know who to call to get the number. I said, OK. So anyway, we ended the conversation. And he got on, apparently got on the phone. When Carl called me Wednesday, he told me that that man went to Coastal State Prison. They called him out at 11 o'clock on Wednesday morning and told him that the arrest was made. And he screamed and jumped up and down as loud as I did. Unbelievable.

So that to me is just that full circle moment where you have a detective that started this investigation. And he saw to it again, father to father. He knew Carl needed to know he had a right to know. And he made that happen. So I will forever be grateful for Detective Calhoun. I called him back after I talked to Carl, and I told him, when he answered the phone, he said, yes, ma'am. And I said, I just wanted to tell you thank you. And I told him when they got down there, and he kind of wondered why I waited until Wednesday morning, but I figured that was because of the storm they had down there this week. Sure.

Absolutely. Yeah, I texted him as well. And when I texted him just how grateful I was and how just touched I was by that, I don't even know what you would call it. He told me, he said, ma'am, you don't ever have to thank me. That's, again, that's the kind of caliber of folks that have been involved in this case, I think, throughout. And I just thought that was a lovely sentiment. Sorry, that kind of got to me a little bit. Because, again, you know, just father to father. He wanted to, you know, make sure that happened for him.

Just like he did when it first all happened. He was the one to go down there and tell dad. When Melissa was first identified formally, Detective Calhoun drove down to the prison to make sure that he told Carl in person what had happened to his child. And the fact that he would then make sure that Carl knew 25 years later that an arrest had been made. I mean, that's just part of this story that I think gets to me and chokes me up. Because again, at that point, just like Karen Greer says, that's just a dad talking to a dad. All right, Tina, Norma, anything y'all want to say that I haven't asked you or you want to be sure y'all say? I just want to say that the men and women in Atlanta PD that go out there every day and have to deal with this sort of stuff.

And they are just amazing. And they put their hearts and souls into it just like we do. Amen. Right on. Tina? We've seen a lot of changes over the past 25 years. And there's been a couple of changes that I wasn't too happy with. There was a lady that we had and I didn't care for her too much.

Anyway, but we got lucky when we started out with Calhoun, and we've gotten lucky because now we have another Calhoun. That's Shepard. But Shepard was really, really, really being very kind to us Tuesday when we got to that police department. And he said, if y'all have any questions for me, y'all ask. And if you think of it after you leave and need to ask, just call me. Well, he kept that promise because we called him on something else later on.

And he really stepped up. So I just want to say thank you, Shepard. Absolutely. I'm going to end zone seven the way that I always do with a quote. Chris's days are numbered and I pray I'm there to see the look on his face when his world comes crashing down on that day, Melissa will be smiling down from heaven

and her children and grandchildren will know the truth. She did not desert her children. She was taken away from them. June 16th, 2022, a grateful father, Carl Patton. I'm Cheryl McCollum, and this is Zone 7. This is an iHeart Podcast.