Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Missing Ashley Mullis: A father’s frustration

Episode Date: April 8, 2017

Ashley Morris Mullis vanished from her Muncie, Indiana, home in September 2013, leaving behind an infant daughter and two sons. Don Morris has spent every weekend since handing out flyers and asking for people to help find her. This is despite his belief that his daughter and the man he suspects killed her are both dead. The father’s refusal to give up is fueled by his love for his young granddaughter, who is now living with the widow of his daughter’s boyfriend. Nancy Grace talks to this grieving dad about this shocking and complicated case. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. I just want my daughter Ashley home. She has three kids that miss her. The parents of Ashley Morris Mollis have increased a reward for information leading to the recovery of their 28-year-old daughter. She went missing September 16, 2013. Results. We want results. What's going on? Who's responsible? This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. It's rough. She's been missing way too long. She's been gone from her family for too long.

Her kids need her. Her family need her. We love her. We miss her dearly. We pray that they might be reunited here and now in this life. The Lord, if this is not to be, then we pray for justice. That this evil thing be exposed and You know, last night I sat on the floor of the JFK and the LaGuardia Airport until midnight. I stayed overnight in a hotel that was between a Kennedy's, not Kentucky, but Kennedy's fried chicken and a Chinese funeral home. I slept for exactly three hours and ten minutes and I got up, sat up in the bed, put on my boots and walked out with my bags. Why? I wanted to get home to my twins. I had to leave them. For two nights. With my mom and a babysitter. And a sister-in-law.

But I had to find them. I had to get back to them. And. Today I'm telling you the story. Of a father. Who is still looking. For his daughter. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. That father is Don Morris. That daughter is Ashley. Don, thank you so much for being with us. Please tell me when you first learned, the moment you realized something wasn't right, Ashley was gone. Well, me and my wife had asked my son, you know, because my son talked to her on a daily basis. And it was after our family reunion, and she had been seen at the family reunion on September the 20th or 22nd,

and a few days later I asked my son if he had heard from my daughter Ashley, and he said no, and he says, Dad, something's not right because i hear from ashley every day me and the wife she was coming by you know every other day or you know at least you know at least every week so a couple more days had passed by and asked my son if she had heard from her and he said no and so me and the wife went to her house and tried to locate her at her house so at this point we didn't find nobody at the house so we wrote a note on the door well we put this note on the door hoping that you know this dan york fella would you know or ashley would see this note and contact me. Well, nobody contacted two more days.

We've been trying to call her phone, and no answers on the phone, and no answers at the door, so like I say, we left a note. And so nobody contacted us, so we wait a couple more days, and we put another note on the door because we noticed that one was missing. So we put another note on the door, you know, please contact us. We're concerned. We're worried. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Let me understand something, Don. You said the first note was missing? The first note was gone? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. So we attempted, you know, we didn't know if the wind blowed it off the door, you know, or, you know, somebody took it off the door, you know, she might not have got it. So we put another note on the door and, you know, no communication, nobody called us back or nothing. So we contact her boyfriend, which is Dan York. He was twice her age. But we contact him, and he said that she had left. But after he avoided us for two weeks, and we had to track him down.

Wait a minute. He says she just up and left, just didn't call you, didn't say, Daddy, you're never going to believe what happened. I got to go. Nothing. Just bam, gone. I know right then something was wrong. Right, and we didn't. And this is when we went to the police department. Well, the police department, Mike Scroggins was the chief of police at Delaware County, which, come to find out, was related to this Dan York. So we don't feel there was a thorough investigation from the start. Even at this point, they still haven't investigated his property, his rental property.

You know, they haven't used cadaver dogs nowhere on his properties. And, you know, as we've done more research, we found out more about this guy, that he was doing drugs, you know, that his kid was involved with moving my daughter's belongings, his daughter and his son. Me and Leandra, my wife, went over there because we had called the police. Hey, somebody's moving Ashley's belongings. And they just let them move her belongings.

I mean, they took everything out of that house and left with everything in there. So there's no evidence of nothing. They took everything out of that house. They would not let me have my daughter's belongings. Wait a minute. If they moved all of her stuff where did they put it i don't know we seen uh a moving van that went to your town and we seen my daughter's uh organ through the window so we called the police and we told them you know we want that

truck investigated because you know this truck had sighted a couple nights before that by the neighbors telling us that that truck was pulled up through the yard, backed up to the back door at 1.30 in the morning. Now, I think that's when he took my daughter's body out of that house in this moving truck. Well, a couple days later, we seen this same moving truck moving her belongings out. So we called the police, and the police wouldn't let us have none of her belongings. Then a couple days later, we've seen another truck moving some more of her belongings. Well, we take the plate numbers of the trucks, and one of them is his lawyer's truck taking her belongings well we take the plate numbers of the trucks and one of them's his lawyer's truck taking her belongings out at this point so it's been messed up from the start but to

come to find out the sheriff was related to dan york it was his cousin so that's why i think so much was covered up from the beginning of this whole case. And let me understand something. How long has it now been since you have spoken to or seen your daughter? It's been pretty, well, September 2013. So almost four years. Not a word. Not one word.

I believe he done something to my daughter. When you go to the police, what do they say? Well, sometimes they don't even answer their phone. You know, they know who it is. They don't answer their phone. They don't call me back. I took it to court twice here in Delaware County over my granddaughter because we got guardianship over Ashley, okay? Since he was dead when he went to court and we got awarded guardianship, we should have got the baby because his lawyer, Jill Gonzalez, went to court for this man, and he was a dead man. And on that day, we got guardianship, but his wife had, they had took off to Florida. Well, they had sent their daughter down there to put her in a house to act like they had been living there for six months

so they'd have a residency in florida then they took in florida they took well after he had passed away she had took and adopted my granddaughter abigail and how as as adopted her in florida and since has changed her name oh my stars this is the biggest legal mess. Oh, my stars. This isn't right. There was no DNA to even prove that he was the father. And the state of Indiana says you've got to have DNA within 60 days. Okay, you've got so many legal issues going so many different directions. Let me get back to the first one and i'm not saying it's less important than the granddaughter but let me get back to her

disappearance what kind of investigation took place what if any i don't think very good one at all because see when we went to the mayor in del County, I had asked for a file, you know, the documentation that the police had had, and the officer had told me at this point, well, Don, you know, there's hundreds of pieces of paper, and it costs so much per piece of paper. I said, I don't care how much paperwork there is and how much it is a piece, I want the paperwork. So when I go to get the paperwork, there's a page and a half. And every bit of that page and a half, I believe I still got the paper,

where it was the case file paper that I went and got off the cops. And some of it its blacked out then all the things that they had done none of it was in numerical order none of the dates was numerical order or nothing so the paperwork he had done was nil to none okay Okay, I want to go back to the day she goes missing. Okay, the last time you saw her, I know there was a family reunion. Is that when you saw her last? Well, my family had saw her. I seen, me and the wife had seen her on the 19th, and we didn't make it to the family

reunion, but my family had seen her, I think it was either the 22nd or the 19th. And we didn't make it to the family reunion, but my family had seen her, I think it was either the 22nd or the 23rd is when my family reunion was. And when you saw her, did she suggest there was any problem within the relationship? Was anything going on out of the ordinary? Well, the last time I seen her, she looked worried. I mean, she just looked worried, and I still hit myself in the head for saying what's wrong. You know, I didn't ask her what was wrong, and I probably should have stepped in, but, you know, my daughter at this point was 27 years old, you know, and i didn't want to meddle in her business you know what i mean

and i seen in her face something was wrong what did you say to her if anything well we just sat and talked and she had brought abigail my granddaughter over to visit with us and uh you know we just sat and i think I bought her supper that evening. And, you know, we sat here and ate. And it just, you know, I just seen a depressing look on her face. But to come to find out down the road what was going on was she and this York guy was having financial problems. And she was married to Justin Mollis, which is a whole other story, which that shouldn't have been allowed to get divorced because she wasn't even at the court to get divorced on that situation.

But Justin's cousin is the one that introduced her to Dan to get service work done on her van because he owned automotive drives. That's how they first met. Back to when you saw her, she seemed worried, and it turned out that she and the boyfriend were having financial problems. Right, and this is what Crystal Mollison told me. And she also told me that Ashley told her that she was going to go to Dan's wife and tell him that that was Dan's baby, that she conceived Ashley was living in Dan's rental property. And evidently, Dan York was giving Ashley money to pay his wife. And she had not known about, you know, them dating. So she was going to go tell his wife. And I think that's what was worrying her so much,

because she was, you know, having many issues with him and also was going to put the word to his wife that they had a kid together and it was a date. That is a loaded scenario. All kinds of things can go wrong with that scenario. So have you talked to the boyfriend? What did he tell you? Last time I seen him, my wife demanded he bring Abigail over. Well, he told us that she was just out to play.

And he was providing a van for her. And he told police that she left in a brown car. Well, the last time we seen her, she was in a red maroon van. And he was supplying that van for it well when we caught up with him was in anderson and he was driving that van and he had my granddaughter he took off with my granddaughter but he'd come by here one day and i told him i said i ought to just yank you out of that truck and beat your butt you know i mean because you don't let somebody go for two weeks and not even notify the parents and the grandparents and the baby

and say, hey, Ashley took off, especially after we then left two notes on his door, you know, then he starts moving all of her belongings out, you know, he can't do that, that's against the law, you know, if she's renting that house, you know, he can't haul her belongings

out until he gets court ordered to, you know, and can't haul her belongings out until he gets court-ordered to. You know, and he just does what he wants because the chief of police is his cousin. It's just been messed up from the start, Nancy. It's just been one big, terrible, frustrating headache. When you go out, you go out on weekends, and you put out flyers, and you look for her, where do you go? Well, I've been all over this town of Muncie. I've been to Rorton. I've been to Yorktown.

Yorktown's got a thing where you ain't allowed to put posters up. I put them on every telephone pole there because I didn't care, Nancy. If they take me to jail for looking for my kid, they take me to jail. I've stood on corners with signs. I've stood on every side of town with signs. I've stood downtown with signs. I tell you what I think, Alan. Regardless of what's in the file, let me just break it down. Typically, police are in touch with the victim's family and they keep them abreast and updated, not all the time, but to let them know what's happening in the case. And Allen, I really believe that this is a time to call on

the Attorney General and have an independent inspection about what's going on in the case, don't you? This is so bizarre, convoluted, and sad. We will be talking with the lead detective. We're going to have him on the phone, so we'll find out what's going on that end, but somebody needs to go over somebody's head on this. Now, let me make sure I understand. This boyfriend who you suspect, he is now deceased? Is that what I'm hearing, or am I confused? Yeah, yeah, and it's, yes, he's deceased, and I got his test certificate, but he died the day before I went to court, and his lawyer still went to court and testified for him. The thing that would really be eating

me up right now as a grandfather is not being able to see those grandkids. I mean, there is that mystery, horrible mystery about your daughter. But now you also have lost your granddaughter. And she is off in another state with apparently a woman who's not related to her because she was related to the person who you believe killed your daughter. Is that the case? This is crazy. But to top it all off, she don't even live in Florida. She lives in Yorktown. She lives in one city over from me.

She just went to Florida to get documentation. Then when I go to Delaware County, they tell me I got to go to court in Florida to do my court work there. When the state of Indiana says you got to have DNA within so many days and months, and that never happened. What we have to do is figure out what to do now. And I think he's not getting answers from local police. So what has to be done now is to go to the state AG and call for an independent investigation. It's just that simple. Guys, we are talking about a beautiful young woman, Ashley Morris Mullis. Practically every weekend, her dad, Don, can be seen every Sunday standing on one street corner or another with handmade posters handing out or displaying information about his

little girl. He goes every weekend. He tries. He looks for her. He puts up posters. He's never given up. And now his granddaughter is beyond his reach as well. And with us today, that father that has never given up, Don Morris, on the search for his daughter, Ashley Morris Mullis. Right now, I want to thank our sponsor, SimpliSafe, who's making our podcast and our search for Ashley possible. SimpliSafe at SimpliSafe.com makes home security available for everyone at $14.99 a month and easy to install. I cover so many cases and I've prosecuted so many cases when a home security system would have made all the difference. Go to SimpliSafe.com slash Nancy for another 10% off. To Don. Don, my question is, have you thought of going higher, above the police department?

Nancy, I've been to Crime Stoppers. I've been to the FBI. I've been to state police. And I get the same results, not no help. Okay, you know what we haven't been yet? The State Attorney General's Office. And that's where I think you need to go. And I'm going to get that information and contact them along with you. That's what Alan Duke and I are going to do. That would be great. Guys, joining me is Ashley's dad, Don, who is still looking for his daughter.

We're joining the search. Don, if your daughter could hear you today, what is your message to her? Well, my message would be to contact me and your mother and ease us of the pain and suffering we're going through at this point because it is terribly hard to concentrate on any one thing. It's hard to concentrate on work. It's, you know, life is miserable. You know, we love our daughter with all our heart. And, you know, if she's out there somewhere, contact us.

Let us know. But at this point, I don't believe that because Ashley was one not to never contact us. You know, if she needed something, she'd come to her dad to get it, you know. And I'm sure there's needs that she's had within the last three years that she would have contacted me and let me know this, you know, because I truly believe she's not hiding out. Don, do you believe your daughter is dead? Do you believe she's been murdered?

I believe this man has done something to my daughter, and that's what killed him. He had a heart attack, and that's what killed his son, and that's what killed Scroggins, all three, because karma took its place on all three of them, and all three of them's dead as well, but yes. So you really believe, you believe, Don, your daughter is not missing. You think she's been killed. Yes, I believe this. Again, to simply say, he was making this search for Ashley, this renewed search for Ashley possible. Thank you for being our sponsor and our partner. You know, it's a tough world, but I still believe in Lady Justice.

I still believe that unsolved homicides can be solved. Missing people can be found if we work together. Simply say thank you. With me is Ashley's dad. He's in our thoughts and our prayers. And more than that, he's in our efforts. And we are going to try our best to help him find his daughter. And not only that, be reunited with his granddaughter.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friends. This is an iHeart Podcast.