Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - New Investigation into Disappearance of Mom, 26, Mayo Clinic Researcher

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

Madeline Kingsbury is a mom of two and a professional. For the last three years, she has been working at the Mayo Clinic as "Clinical Research Coordinator for Public Health, Infectious Disease, and Occupational Medicine Research.  On the day Kingsbury vanished, she dropped her children off at daycare and then had a text exchange with her sister; one centered around a funny picture. There were other text messages sent to Kingsbury during the course of the day but no reply.  Later that day, Kingsbury didn't pick up her children. Turns out, she also didn't go to work that day.  Where is Madeline Kingsbury? As the investigation continues a highly respected prosecutor has been pulled out of retirement to help. Prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz will consult in the ongoing search for  Kingsbury.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Megan Kingsbury- Victims sister, Facebook: Finding Madeline Kingsbury, GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/the-search-for-maddi Kathleen Murphy - North Carolina Family Attorney Julie Gates- Major Law Enforcement Crime Scene Investigator, Forensic Science Program Coordinator/Instructor: Southern Crescent Technical College Dr. Angela Arnold-Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA. Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women; Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University; Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital Tracy Campbell- Public Relations Director, North Star International Search and Recovery (NSI) www.nsik9ta.org  John Lauritsen- Reporter/CBS Minnesota (WCCO-TV, wcco.com, Twitter: @jdlauritsen John Lemley - Crime Online Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. An absolutely beautiful young Minnesota mom is laughing and joking and texting with her sister. And then suddenly, she seemingly vanishes off the face of the earth. Where is Madeline? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to our friends at GMA.

The desperate search to find a missing Minnesota mom of two who disappeared eight days ago. Please help us find Madeline. The children need their mother. Winona police officials say 26-year-old Madeline Maddie Kingsbury's disappearance is suspicious and they are worried for her safety. Our department and our law enforcement partners are working relentlessly to find Maddie. Maddie was last seen the morning of Friday March 31st. Maddie and the father of their children dropped the children off at daycare shortly after 8 a.m. Maddie did not show up for work which is very unlike her and we are worried for

her safety. During the course of our investigation, we know that Maddie returned to her residence on Cary Drive in Winona around 8.15 a.m. on March 31st. The vehicle that Maddie normally drives is a 2014 dark blue Chrysler Town & Country minivan. You know, when you don't know where to start or what to do, just imagine, put yourself in the shoes of this beautiful young mom's family. Everything seems fine. And then out of the blue, they realize we haven't heard from Maddie. Who is Maddie? That's where you start an investigation with your victim you were just hearing not only our friends at gma but also chief tom wilson of the winona police department but now take a listen to what

we know about who is maddie on mother's day 2022 madeline kingsbury wrote on facebook quote being a mother has been my greatest adventure i could have sworn they were little both newborns on my chest yesterday. Happy Mother's Day to all you mamas out there, unquote. Madeline Kingsbury, known to her friends and family as Maddie, is a 26-year-old mother of two, five-year-old daughter Eliana, two-year-old son Noah. For the last three years, she's been working at the Mayo Clinic. According to her LinkedIn profile,

Maddie is a clinical research coordinator for public health, infectious disease, and occupational medicine research at Mayo Clinic according to her LinkedIn profile Maddie is a clinical research coordinator for public health infectious disease and occupational medicine research at Mayo Clinic with a demonstrated history of working in human subjects research Maddie attained her Bachelor of Science degree in public health healthcare administration from Winona State University in 2019 and she was working toward a master's degree in public health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and in the last month she was also looking for child care providers with openings for this summer. Safe to say Maddie is a very busy woman.

Wow. She didn't just fall off the turnip truck, huh? Guys, I've got an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but I want to go first to a renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction. You can find her at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. Angie, did you hear what our friends at CrimeOnline.com just said about Madeline Kingsbury? This woman, she's 26 years old with two children, is already working at the most renowned, one of the most renowned facilities in the world at the Mayo Clinic.

And she is in clinical research. Not only that, she has two children she's raising and juggling all of that all at the same time. Now, all of that is amazing, but I'm trying to figure out where is Madeline. And the first thing you do when you look at your victim, where would she have been? Well, she apparently goes to work and she comes home to be with her children. Work and home, work and home, completely devoted to her children. And to work at Mayo Clinic, you can't be a slacker. You got to be there on time, bright eyed and bushy tail ready to go. So this is not a woman that, oh yeah, she had a drug problem. So maybe she's with her supplier or maybe she's out, you know,

peddling dope on the corner or, you know, she's a boozer. time i saw her they were it was the last call at the bar down the street no risky behavior at all could you explain why that's so significant when a woman goes missing well also nancy let's point out that she has future plans she has future plans to get her mph her master's in public health which health, which is no easy thing to acquire. Okay. If the listeners out there don't understand what that means, to get a master's in public health is a very difficult degree to get. Okay.

Actually, Dr. Angie, I don't. I mean, I have a master's and my juror's doctorate, but I don't know what is a master's in public health. Oftentimes you get that degree if you do want to be in the research field and academics. And it's a very, I'm just telling you, it's a very difficult degree to get to be admitted to and to acquire. So this woman has some very, some very big future plans for herself she's not a secretary not that there's anything wrong with being a secretary but she has a very big job at the mayo clinic which she is planning to extend she's planning to make her job bigger at the mayo clinic so no this

is not a person you don't play around in. You don't not show up for work. There are a lot of people depending on her. People depend on her to get their grants sent in at the proper time and things like that. So I'm sure she had a schedule that she kept. I'm sure that she was, you know, she drops her kids off. She goes to work. She's a working mom. She's a working mom with a very big job. And a lot of people depend

on her in that job that she's doing. Hold on. You just said something really, really important. And I'm going to follow up with Julie Gates. John Lurton joining me from CBS there in Minnesota, WCC. I'm getting right to you. And also with us a special guest, Megan Kingsbury. This is Madeline's sister. Hold on just a second. I want to follow up with something Dr. Angie just said regarding her schedule. Hold on. Let me make a note of exactly what I wanted to say. But Dr. Angie, I agree with you about being a secretary. You know, my mom started off as a secretary and at a pulp and paper company. She went on to run the payroll and then turn into the CFO of a Fortune 500 company, one of their plants. So, you know, I wouldn't snivel at being a secretary. That said,

I agree with everything else that you just said. Julie Gates, major law enforcement crime scene investigator, forensic science program coordinator and instructor at the Southern Crescent Technical College. And joining her today is her entire class of, I guess, criminal procedure students. Julie, thank you for being with us. Did you hear what Dr. Angela Arnold said? Everything she said was correct, but I'm especially hinged on what she said regarding Madeline Kingsbury's schedule. So this is a woman that runs research or part of it at the Mayo Clinic. She's raising two children. She's in the middle of working on her master's degree.

Julie, I don't know if this is the right way or the wrong way to live if there is such a thing, but I actually have to divide my day starting at 5 a.m. into 15-minute increments until I pick up my twins from school, then everything's off. But a lot of that sounds crazy to a lot of people. But to a high achiever like this woman, Madeline Kingsbury, I bet she had segmented times of the day. This is when I get up. This is when I make the breakfast for the children. This is when I wake them up. This is when I feed the cat and the dog and the guinea pigs. This is when I give them their breakfast. This is what time we leave for drop off. This is what time I get home. This is what time I go to work. And then on and on until she picks them up from school. Significance, Julie Gates. We know where to find her because she must be a very highly regimented person to do everything she's doing. Well, it seems like she's very detailed and schedule oriented.

So I do agree that, yeah, she's probably on a schedule that, you know, she takes her kids to school this time and, you know, everyone's depending on her. So yeah, she does have a schedule and a regime that she would follow daily. Okay, Julie Gates, you are an incredible forensic investigator.

I don't need an echo chamber. I just said that. I want you to tell me Okay, Julie Gates, you are an incredible forensic investigator. I don't need an echo chamber. I just said that. I want you to tell me how that translates into finding a missing woman. We know her schedule. She's highly regimented. It's not like she's just wandering around walking circles at the mall all day. No, but it goes to victimology.

We'll have to look at her victimology, you know, what, who she's with, what she's doing during the day, you know, and that schedule does help that. Man, you're not kidding. It kind of, it's not an Eland Haystack. You kind of know where to start. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Who is this woman and how at one moment was she laughing and talking and joking, sending funny pictures back and forth to her sister. And the next thing, the sister says, Mom, have you heard from Maddie? And joining me right now is that sister, Megan Kingsbury. And you can find her on Facebook, Finding Madeline Kingsbury. And go find me, go find me, the search for Maddie. And there they spell it, M-A-D-D-I, not Madeline.

Megan Kingsbury, first of all, I want to tell you how much my heart's going out to you. I have one sister and she lives far away. And when I don't hear from her, say in a week, I get worried. And I cannot, she's the closest thing to me. And I'm sorry what you're going through, Megan. We all are. Thank you. Yeah, she's my best friend.

Gosh, I hardly know where to start. But you know what? Let's hear Megan in her own words describing her sister. Listen. Madeline is a hardworking and dedicated mother as well as a grad student at the U of M and works for the Mayo Clinic. Family is everything to her. She's grown into an impressive and beautiful young woman.

Madeline is many things. She's a mother, sister, daughter, best friend, granddaughter and a niece. It's a long list. She's a young mother of two. Five-year-old Eliana, two-year-old Noah. Ellie is spunky and goofy. She loves to be crafty and creative. She's inherited her mother's kindness and curiosity about the world. Little Noah has turned into a chatterbox. Can't tell what he says half the time. He loves to dance. He loves rock and roll. And he was blessed with the red-headed gene from my grandfather.

Megan, first of all, tell me about your sister's children, her two babies. I believe they are, I guess they're in preschool, right? Yeah, Ellie attended a Montessori preschool in Winona. And then Noah went to an in-home daycare in Winona as well. Tell me about her relationship with her children. They were the light of her life. Constantly with them, constantly, you know, trying to discover new things to teach them. She really encouraged them to be their own little people. She was very much

a yes mom, you know, wanted them to experience everything. You know, just thinking about them, one is two and one is five. How are they reacting to mommy not being there every single day? You know, fortunately, they're very young. So especially Noah, you know, he's only two. As far as them asking about her once in a while, but they're doing really well right now. So as far as we can tell, they haven't really noticed any big difference. They must be surrounded by a lot of love right now. Yes. And not even realize

anything is out of the norm. Guys, listen to more. Since her first child was born, which is five years ago now, you know, I talked to her multiple times on a daily basis. FaceTime, phone, text, even the rest of my family family she's just in constant communication with us about every minute detail um so it's very unlike her the last communication that i had with her was the morning of friday march 31st um she had sent me a text at about 8.15 in the morning. Regular text for her. We were chuckling about a funny photo exchanged between us. And that was the last communication with me or with any of my family or her other friends. You're hearing Madeline's sister Megan speaking to our friends at Fox and Friends. Megan, so you guys were exchanging texts early that morning, as early as

8.15? Yeah, you know, we both start early in the morning. I personally, I start work at 7 a.m., and she's up with the kids. So yeah, pretty much every morning, it's pretty early contact with us. Let me understand her schedule, Megan. With me is Megan Kingsbury. This is Madeline's sister. Very, very close relationship. You just heard her say they texted or talked every day. Megan, in the morning, so she would get up, would she always drop the children, one at the home daycare and one at the Montessori? Ellie went to the Montessori, gosh, I think maybe two or three days a week. The other days she went to the same in-home daycare as Noah. And Madeline would be the one to drop them off?

Yeah. Sometimes I think their father joined as well. I wasn't quite clear on how often, but she definitely would always be there. So it's always her. Now, who would pick them up? I think typically it would be her or both parents. I think it kind of depended on her schedule but almost always her and maybe the dad would also come yes okay the day that she went missing who picked them up their father okay so that was covered i was just imagining a nightmare of the children like standing outside for pickup and nobody being there of course noah's too young to do that guys we're trying to figure out what happened now you

exchanged a text with her early that morning at megan 8 15 did you hear from her after that i did not was that normal no i mean even if she can't talk or she's busy she'll send a message saying so hey i'm busy i'll talk to you later um but no I didn't I didn't get anything else and that was March 31 correct yes okay March 31 she goes missing last seen that morning 8 15 last heard from that morning at 8 15 joining me right now is investigative reporter out of Minnesota CBS WCCO-TV John Lortzen John thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. Oh, yes. Tell me about the area.

Is this rural, suburban? Well, Winona is home to Winona State. It's a decent-sized town as far as Minnesota goes. This is in the southeastern portion of the state. Now, wait a minute. Where is that as it relates to the Tri-Cities? I'm talking about Minneapolis-St. Paul. This is a couple hours, about two and a half hours southeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Okay. Right across the border from Wisconsin is where Winona is located. So you had a lot of searchers and volunteers coming from western Wisconsin as well to help look for Madeline. Is part of Winona in Wisconsin? It is not. No, it's right across the border, literally right across the border. Got it. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, the terrain you're asking about is really mixed, and it's a beautiful part of the state, really. There's bluff country down there. I don't like that. I don't like anything you just said.

You know why? Yeah. When I hear the words John Lortzen, beautiful terrain, you know what that translates to me? Hard to find. Densely wooded forests, mountainous dirt roads, very low traversed areas. Is that what you're saying about beautiful? Because that's really hard to find somebody. In some parts it is. Yeah, it's kind of an eclectic blend of terrain. Because we, on Friday when we were there and on Saturday as well, there's a lot of farm fields that they were walking through as well. There's a lot of farm fields that they were walking through as well. And there are teams of 12, a dozen or so

volunteers that were showing up from all over the area. Very coordinated on Friday and then again on Saturday, walking through farm fields. But yes, the chief from Winona Police did talk about that. He said that the terrain is a mix. And definitely, as you mentioned, Nancy, the bluff area, he talked about that being a challenge the hills uh yeah the steep terrain in some cases and he did highlight that is is a challenge john lortzen uh wcco joining us thank you again for making time for us uh what's the population isn't it under 50 000 yeah i believe it is and where a lot of this search has been coordinated there's a

couple little towns involved good view minnesota is right next to anona that was a headquarters 50,000? Yeah, I believe it is. And where a lot of this search has been coordinated, there's a couple little towns involved. Goodview, Minnesota is right next to Winona. That was a headquarters last week as well. Late last week for a lot of volunteers to show up. There's a little town called Rushford, which isn't too far away. I believe it's about 20 miles west where they were also searching. I had a coordinated search there as well. And want to say last week and you were it was nearly 3,000 people that showed up to help that was Easter weekend you know I've covered a few of these sadly over the years but this is one of the larger coordinated efforts and talking with people that didn't know Madeline but still coming out because they're a parent or they knew somebody who knew

her or they were a friend of hers whatever it might be you have people from all over as i mentioned western wisconsin southeastern minnesota uh it it felt like there were busload upon busload that friday morning and then again in the afternoon and then again on saturday so it was impressive to see that. Tracy Campbell joining us, Public Relations Director at Northstar International Search and Recovery. Tracy, thank you for being with us. I know that that strikes fear in your heart when you hear about this terrain in a low population. Now, low population in one way means that it reduces the number of potential suspects, if any, involved in Madeline's disappearance. But that terrain, if she went for a hike, if she went for a walk, that's going to be very difficult to find her. What would you be doing right now, Tracy Campbell?

Well, I saw the fields that they were searching and a line search. Depending on the terrain, you know, we have, I don't know what their resources are. First of all, tell everybody what is a line search that you just said. How they're walking straight in a line. So typically, first of all, they had 3,000 people respond, volunteers. That can wonderful, but it also can be very stressful because a search and recovery team, they've got experience. They've been through classes. They know what to look for, clues. You don't always know what a civilian will. So typically, you would take a team leader, somebody that's from the search team, and maybe pair them up with 12 or so civilian searchers, and that would be your line. That way if they had any questions, if they saw something but they weren't sure whether it was relevant, they could ask somebody on a search and rescue team.

Exactly. And you know, Megan Kingsbury joining us is Megan Kingsbury, Madeline's sister. What goes through your mind when you're hearing us talking about searching this terrain? You know, I've been out searching myself in some more kind of remote areas, wildlife preserves, things like that. I, you know, I've been down to visit. I've seen the difficulty in the terrain and just I kind of look around and I'm like, well, she could be anywhere. And it's hard to know where to start.

And a lot of people just aren't able to search that terrain effectively. So it definitely worries me every day. When you go to bed at night, what are your thoughts about where is your sister? Just last night, I was outside and I looked up at the sky. And I'm just wondering, is she out there somewhere under the same sky? Like, where could she be? It's a million things run through my mind every night. And, you know, you want to hold on to a chance of hope that, you know, she's found okay. It's difficult the longer that this goes on. To John Lortzen joining us, CBS Minnesota WCCO, was there any history of just, quote, taking a break or needing time to herself?

Anything like that? Because I haven't found it. No, not that we're aware of. I'm sure Megan and the family would be able to speak to that. Megan, is there any such history? There is not. Yeah, I mean, Kathleen Murphy joining me right now, a courtroom veteran out of North Carolina, family lawyer. She's at ncdomesticlaw.com. Kathleen Murphy, it would be a cold day in H-E-L-L that I took time for myself and left my children. That's not happening. That's not happening, Nancy.

No, that's not happening. This mom didn't go away for the weekend, didn't need me time. There was no like spa time and those mud baths and massages and hot stones on your back and all that. No. That. No. She worked and she took care of her children. That was her life. And so that makes, should make it easiest for us to find her. Such young babies, you're going to be in those hot spots. You're going to be at the daycare. You're going to be at the grocery store. You're going to be at the house. They're going to nap. You're going to be at the daycare. You're going to be at the grocery store. You're going to be at the house. They're going to nap. You're going to be in the same places over and over again.

As a mother of four, you're a mother of twins. You know the routine. Her family knows the routine. It's not rocket science at this point. Guys, you're hearing the voice of Kathleen Murphy, who has worked with us on many, many missing persons cases. But guys, I want you to hear more of what we know about Madeline. Listen. There was some concern the evening of Friday, March 31st. sent me a message asking if I had heard from my sister that day because my mom had sent some

messages that had no response. And when she said that, I was kind of like, oh, yes, I guess you're right. She was supposed to come visit my house the next morning with her daughter. And typically, you know, we would have discussed those plans since it was coming up so it was that evening and we started kind of connecting with her friends and seeing if anyone had heard from her. Megan Kingsbury is Madeline's sister joining us shedding light into the search for her sister. Megan how far away from Madeline do you live? I live in the Minneapolis area so it's about two hours from her home in Winona. So to plan a trip this isn't like she's just going around the corner this is something she'd

have to get the children ready in the car snacks all that and then drive two hours to see you and your family correct? Right. So that was a plan interesting and no history at all of just leaving to go for a girls weekend or time alone. Nothing like that, right? Right. I mean, if she needed a break, she'd come to my house, but she'd still bring the kids. And, you know, we'd kind of tag team and watch them. But no, she never would leave them. So that evening, your mother notices she hasn't heard from your sister and back to Kathleen Murphy joining us high profile lawyer out of North Carolina Kathleen that's routine evidence and I don't mean standard typical humdrum routine I mean evidence of someone's routine and I'm stressing that again for like the third time because it's very important. By that evening, when sister and mother

have not heard from her, they know something's up, much less she didn't go to work that day and she didn't pick the children up. And creating those timelines are going to be so important to investigators, Nancy. The timeline from that family is going to be key in placing the location of Maddie and anybody else that could be associated with her disappearance. What do you mean by that? So, for example, if Maddie is going into work, and that's her routine, immediately after dropping the children off, why did she go home? Why did she go home? And why was it 10 o'clock when her husband or the father of her children took that vehicle? Those are questions that have to be answered.

You're absolutely correct. And as a matter of fact, take a listen to our friend Jacqueline Lee. According to police, Maddie was last seen at home last Friday at approximately 8.15 in the morning after dropping her two children off with their father at daycare. The father told police he left Maddie's house at about 10 a.m. in her dark blue Chrysler minivan. When he returned later that day, he says she was not home. A minivan resembling hers was seen that same morning, driving along a nearby county road between 10.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m.

Investigators have searched the minivan and Maddie's home. Inside the house, they found her phone and her wallet. I just was trying not to panic. Maddie's sister Megan last texted her that morning and everything seemed fine. crime stories with nancy grace take a listen to our friend jacklyn lee according to police maddie was last seen at home last friday at approximately 8 15 in the morning after dropping her two children off with their father at daycare the father told police he left Maddie's house at about 10 a.m. in her dark blue Chrysler minivan. When he returned later that day, he says she was not home. A minivan resembling hers was seen that same morning driving along a nearby county road between 10 30 a.m. and

1 30 p.m. Investigators have searched the minivan and maddie's home inside the house they found her phone and her wallet i just was trying not to panic maddie's sister megan last texted her that morning and everything seemed fine okay let's go straight back out to our investigative reporter john lortzen joining us wccotv there in Minnesota. Let me understand what I just heard from our friends at GMA, Jacqueline Lee. Now, that morning, 8.15, that's when she's texting with her sister, Megan. She and the bio dad dropped the children at daycare. Correct. He tells cops he left Maddie's house about 10 a.m. for some reason in her minivan.

Okay, let me understand. That was when the decision was made that she'd not go to work because that's when she would go to work i understand between eight you know after she drops the children but no did he bring her back to the house is that what he's saying that's what we understand through law enforcement that's what he told them then he takes the chrysler and then when he comes back with it i don't know what to fill it with gas i'm not sure he gets back at 10 a.m and she's not there is that correct he he claimed he left and came back I believe in the afternoon and she was not there now law enforcement is telling us there's no

evidence she was picked up by anybody else or that she might have just left the home and walked somewhere that's according to the Winona police chief. Well, is that the terrain, Megan Kingsbury? Would she just leave and walk somewhere? No, I mean, where her house is kind of situated, she's not really within walking distance of, you know, like a target or anything. Does she walk, jog, or bike? Anything like that? You know, she used to jog.

I think it's been a while, but she did used to jog in the past. But not recently? No, I don't believe so. So I'm just trying been a while, but she did used to jog in the past. But not recently? No, I don't believe so. So I'm just trying to figure out. We were covering the case of Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis mom who was out like at 4 o'clock in the morning jogging. That was her routine. You know, in a lot of terrains, like you go out on the street, it's like I-75. You can't walk or jog or bike there.

Or it could be a country road like Molly Tib tibbets where she would run every day so is the terrain near her did she have a home apartment condo what um they lived in a town home it was kind of one of those divided in half ones so they had a connected neighbor okay and the bio dad's living in the home correct yes okay so he leaves with the car yeah you're right you're right lordson i had that 10 30 a.m in my head that he came back but her vehicle was sighted between 10 30 and 1 1 30 p.m that's where i'm getting 10 30 is that correct that is correct yes who sighted her vehicle that was spotted around town i believe there there's more than one witness to that. And now what law enforcement was trying to get people to do, and we've been down there, is

have people check. It's called the Highway 43 Corridor. That's where that van has been spotted or was spotted around that time. It's a dark blue minivan Chrysler. What is it, a Chrysler Pacifica? Town and country. Oh, right. Town and country. Multiple sightings of her van around town, but did anybody see who was driving it? Not that we have been told yet. And what they're asking people to do is, you know, we've talked about the terrain quite a bit in just that area. It can get rural pretty quick. So they're asking people to look at their doorbell cameras, see if they can see who is driving, see if the van went by their home trail cameras there's a lot of uh you know wooded areas as we talked about out there people have trail cameras set up did your trail camera catch this van on a roadway uh when you're kind of having

it going down a path looking for wildlife was there a road behind there where you saw the van going through what time was it uh can you see who was driving what about cameras in town you said highway 43 corridor and when you said around town what town winona yes correct aren't there red light cams and business cams business cameras surveillance cameras security cameras whatever you got law enforcement wants to know about it. Well, aren't they getting it? Aren't they confiscating it from businesses and red lights? Does nobody remember Chandra Levy and her apartment complex before she went out and was attacked and murdered?

Every 72 hours, they roll over the tape and it starts over. You got to get it immediately before it starts rolling over. they might have some already they just have not disclosed i think megan talked about that earlier is you know the investigation they're being they're keeping it very close to their best but yeah they're definitely asking for anybody else that had maybe something out there that wasn't so obvious you know the businesses are one thing and and the homes near there is another but in some of this these rural areas around that line and around that uh vicinity if they had a trail camera if they had a doorbell camera if they had a security camera did you see this van go by can you tell who was driving and they want

that but john lorison you're telling me people in the town of Winona think they saw not just a blue town and country, her blue town and country? Is that what they think? That's what law enforcement has told us. They believe that van, more than one person saw that van driving in that time frame we talked about. What was distinct about her van? Megan, what, if anything, is distinct? John, anybody jump in and tell me. Well, and the fact that it was a town and country Chrysler van, and I honestly, Nancy, I don't know how popular those are in Winona, Minnesota, but that's in that time frame that van was spotted. And that's an excellent question. Is that van, do we know if that was hers for sure? I'm guessing what law enforcement says it is. Megan Kingsbury, what about it? What about her van? You know, the law enforcement has some footage from a gas station in Rushford, Minnesota.

I believe it was a quick trip of the van coming and going. So I know for sure they've seen it in rushford um other than that i i haven't heard if there's been any other footage i know they're looking at semi trucks um those have cameras kind of all around um they're they're really trying any avenue to see if they can get footage where is rushford as it relates to anona oh it's very close yeah 20 miles 20 miles i would say and what time of the day was her van spotted in rushford uh i want to say probably between like 10 30 and 11 ish yeah i believe i believe you're right on that i think it was in the morning still before the noon hour that that was spotted. But what time does BioDad say he

brought the car back? I believe that he said he returned home around 1 p.m. So that could have been him driving around. That doesn't really help us, does it? Yeah. Okay, where is the vehicle right now, John Larson? Law enforcement has searched searched that vehicle i do not know if they gave that back to the family do you know megan um i believe law enforcement still has the vehicle still has the vehicle okay to julie yates joining us uh crime scene investigator and instructor julie what do you make of this regarding them still having the vehicle? I would hope they still had the vehicle in their possession because that is one of the key pieces of evidence, I would say, right now. To Tracy Campbell joining us with North Star International Search and Recovery, I believe that the vehicle, especially in light of the fact that law enforcement is still holding on to it, must have some sort of forensic evidence in it. I agree.

Okay, Kathleen Murphy, what do we do now? I think we take an inventory of what's in there. I also, Nancy, have a question about whether or not a search warrant has been effectuated for the home that they were living in. And another question that we have is whether or not Madeline was looking for another place to live. I saw on her Facebook page that she had posted that she was looking for a new place to live in April or May. To Megan Kingsbury, your sister posted that. Is that correct that she was looking for a new place to live? Yes, that's correct. Why? Her and the father of the children were not continuing their relationship.

They were splitting. Yes. She was looking for a new place close to where she already lived, close to the daycare, close to the preschool. I know she was looking over in Goodview, which is the next town over.

So, yeah, she was looking for a new place. Nancy, if I could jump in for just a moment. This is John Lemley in the Crime Online newsroom. We're now learning that a special prosecutor has been hired by Winona County law enforcement to assist in the search for Madeline Kingsbury. Madeline's sister has revealed that Philip Prokopovich is currently collaborating with law enforcement about Madeline's disappearance and he'll help if charges are brought against anyone. Prokopovich served as Dakota County's previous chief deputy county attorney.

Guys, the family of Madeline Kingsbury has now issued a $50,000 reward. $50,000 reward. Tip line 507-457-6288. Repeat, 507-457-6288. Please help us find Madeline. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.