Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - SHOCK : 3 Tot Girls Drown Accidentally, NOW RULED STRANGULATION

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

Shommaonique Wickerson goes to work, leaving her 6 children in the care of her 31-year-old cousin, Paris Propps. Hours later, Wickerson gets a call from Propps saying "your kids are missing."  Three of the girls in his care have gone missing. The three sisters were then found dead in their neighbor’s private pond. Officials first reported the deaths as tragic drownings. Now, police say the girls were strangled to death before being thrown into the pond.  Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton says the sisters had also had “lacerations” on their faces. Joining Nancy Grace Today Shommaonique Wickerson - Mother- GoFundMe Jarrett Ferentino - Pennsylvania Prosecutor and Partner at Pugliese, Finnegan, Shaffer & Ferentino; Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino Dr. Patricia Wallace, PsyD, LMFT Christopher Byers - Former Police Chief Johns Creek Georgia, 25 years as Police Officer, now Private Investigator and Polygraph Examiner with Lancaster Information Services in Atlanta Dr. Maneesha Pandey  - Chief Forensic Pathologist for Forensic Pathologists LLC in Ohio; Board-certified Forensic Pathologist Dave Mack- CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Three little girls are dead. Eight months later, we still don't have a suspect. Why? What is the problem in Cass County, Texas? These three little girls, ages 5, 8, and 9, not only they, but their mother needs answers. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. There's very, very little coverage regarding the deaths of these three girls. Why? I would imagine the media would be on this like a cheap suit. Why is that not happening? Why have their deaths gone unsolved? Let's just start at the beginning. Here's our friends at Crime Online.

Show Monique Oliver-Wickerson is a hardworking woman. She spends her days taking care of her six children, the loves of her life. Then she trades in her mom apron and puts on her nurse's outfit and heads to work with the second love of her life as a certified nurse's aide. Her work as a CNA is very rewarding and Briri, as her friends call her, loves the work. The Friday night shift is going like many others have, until about 9 o'clock. That's when the nightmare begins, and Shomanique gets a phone call that will change her life and that of her entire family forever. Joining me right now is the mother of these three beautiful little girls. When I say beautiful, I mean beautiful. On the outside and on the inside too.

Ms. Wickerson, thank you for being with us. You're welcome. I know you're known at work where you work as a nurse's aide is Bree Bree. I'm just imagining you at work that night with your colleagues turned friends when you get a phone call. What were you told on that call? Do you remember being told,

hey, you got a call, Bree? Yes, ma'am. When I got the call, the only thing my cousin had said was that my kids were missing. He didn't specifically say which kid or how many kids. He just said kids, meaning me and all my kids. What were you doing at the moment that call came? I was changing a resident at the time.

And then you walked to the phone at the nurse's station? When you got the news from your cousin that some of your children were missing, what went through your mind immediately? Like, how did they end up missing when they was in the house? Why are you just not calling me? Like, shouldn't you be calling 9-1-1 first then calling me just all these thoughts colliding in your head at the same time when did you see the children last um when i called them around five or six o'clock that day when i was at work and I talked to my kids. They were sitting down eating in my room watching tv on the floor. So this is in July the end of July so they're on summer break.

You are all in your room your bedroom at home? Yes ma'am. And everybody's eating and watching tv and you're all there together before you go to work. Yes, ma'am. That reminds me so much of growing up. My dad worked, as he called it, the second trick. Sometimes it was the third trick, just depending on what he got that week at the railroad. And we would all try to eat quickly for him to go to work or when my mom would have to go to work at night. I'm just imagining that moment.

And that was at around 5 to 6 p.m., correct? That was the time that I was at work because I had left for work around 1 o'clock that afternoon. Oh, you spoke to them at 5 to 6 on the phone? Yes, ma'am. And everything was fine? Yes, ma'am. Okay, what were they saying? Were they planning to stay at the house or were they going to go outside and play? Go down the street to a friend's house?

What did they say when you talked to them between 5 and 6 o'clock? I had asked them what they were going to do. They were going to stay in the house, finish eating, watch TV, take a bath because it was getting dark. So they know not to go outside when it gets dark,

because we don't have a light outside. So they knew to stay in the house. What were the ages of the children? I have a daughter that was 10 at the time, a 9-year-old, an 8-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 1-year-old. That's five. And then I had a 7-year-old, an eight-year-old, a three-year-old, and a one-year-old. That's five. And then I had a seven-year-old. Okay.

All right. So they're all there, and they know what to do. I mean, I remember with both my parents working, we knew what to do. We didn't go run around the neighborhood. We didn't go ride on our bikes. We stayed inside, had the doors locked, did homework, took a bath, watched TV, and waited for my mom and dad to come home. I mean, we never really even thought of going outside. We knew we weren't supposed to.

So your children understood what to do, and you checked in with them between 5 and 6 p.m.? Yes, ma'am. Now, what time were you supposed to be home that night? I supposedly got off at 10 o'clock that night. And how far away was the nursing home where you worked from your home? From Atlanta to Texarkana, I think that's like about a 25-minute drive. Okay, so 25 minutes. So the soonest you would have gotten home at best would

have been about 1030. Yes, ma'am. And you get the call from your cousin at 9pm. Yes, ma'am. Tell me about your drive home that night. I guess you raced out of the nursing home to try to get home. Yes, ma'am. I did. On the way driving, I was like trying to multitask and not Rick at the same time. So I was trying to multitask on one phone with the police on one line and then trying to call my aunt

on the other line to see if she can rush out there and meet me there or go out there and look for them until I get there. So I was just trying to talk between two different people, trying to figure out like, how did my kids go missing? Who's missing? How many are missing? How'd they get out of the house?

They knew not to get out of the house. You had a babysitter there watching them. So what the hay happened? You're calling 911. I'm surprised you didn't just run off the road trying to get home but you got home and it's hard to tell police uh my child is missing when you don't know is it one is it two or all six gone what and they were just there at 6 p.m when you were on the phone with them three hours later they're missing how happen? Guys, take a listen to our friends at Crime Online and Lieutenant Jason Jones joining us out of Texas. By 10 p.m. that Friday night, deputies from the Cass County Sheriff's Office, wardens from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and fire rescue crews from Cass County Emergency Services

District Number 2 mounted a search for the children. By now, everyone involved is looking for three little girls. Nine-year-old Ziariel Oliver, eight-year-old Amaya Hughes, and five-year-old Tamari Oliver. Chomanique has made sure her other children are fine and where they belong. With all the manpower on hand, a search inside and outside of the house begins. We now know that the case has been handed over to the Texas Rangers. But prior to that, what was the information that led to the call? So we were Texas Game Wardens received a call about 10 o'clock on Friday night, a report of three children missing.

And so we, we gathered up our assets and, and went out out to the last known location of them. We brought in one of our canine units. That search led to a pond, which was about 200 yards away from the residence. Ms. Wilkerson, your children would never have gone to that pond on their own. I'm sure from what I have researched, you made it very clear they were not to go there and they did not go there under your watch. No, we never knew about a pond being back there. And I grew up out there my whole life. So I never knew it was a pond out there. And my kids wouldn't go in the field no way because there are animals out there, cows and horses. So they never would have stepped foot over there.

Hi, guys. Nancy Grace here. Join us now on Fox Nation for our brand new special, Children of Serial Killers, a Nancy Grace investigation. Parents by day, killers by night. But what about the sons and daughters of brutal murderers? Are they forever haunted by their parents' crimes? What happens when they find out mommy or daddy's a killer? In this new special, we investigate the lives of children of serial killers, weaving the timelines of the parents' crimes into their home lives, speaking directly with sons and daughters of serial killers,

including the children of the Craigslist killer, the chameleon killer, and more. We hear from experts in the field. Don't miss this. Join us now for Children of Serial Killers, a Nancy Grace investigation streaming exclusively on Fox Nation. Go to foxnation.com to watch. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. You know, there's something called routine evidence. With me, Jarrett Farentino, high-profile lawyer out of the Pennsylvania jurisdiction with Pugliese, Finnegan, Schaefer, and Farentino.

Jarrett, thank you for being with us. And when I say routine evidence, I don't mean boring routine or typical. I mean evidence of a routine. Practically everything Ms. Wickerson is saying is reminding me of growing up in rural Georgia. Across the street from our home and then across a creek and then up a hill was a huge cow pasture, huge. And there would be cows and sometimes bulls out there. And we knew not to go there, not to go through that barbed wire and try to pet the cows. We would never even think of it.

And there were ponds and streams everywhere. And we knew not to go there. And we didn't. So when I hear this mother of six, three of her girls, now gone, dead, I believe her. Because I experienced the same thing. She said they would never go to that pond because you have to go through woods and cows and this and that to get to it.

And she knew her children. That is called routine evidence, evidence of the routine of the children. And Nancy, Ms. Wilkerson, I too am sorry for the loss of your children. Nancy, that would be evidence that could be considered if this case is ultimately presented in court. The fact that Ms. Wilkerson warned her children and her children knew not to go into that area, that is something that the district attorney can present and show the jury just another reason, another piece of this puzzle that would suggest this was not a natural passing of these children. They knew better. You're so right.

If we ever get a POI person of interest or a suspect, much less a defendant. But what I'm saying is I do not think that cops were led to this pond without good reason. Guys, take a listen now to Lieutenant Jason Jones. And so there, close to that pond, we found a pair of tennis shoes right next to the water. And so we had the family members identify that that was one of the little girl's tennis shoes that was missing. So that way we could focus our efforts closer to the water's edge or to the water. We actually found some footprints in the mud leading into the water. So that kind of narrowed our search down even more. Ms. Wilkerson, we are hearing Lieutenant Jones speaking.

Do you remember when you were called to identify clothing and or girls tennis shoes near the pond? Yes, because when I got there, I heard my aunt and them out there in the field somewhere yelling for my kids. And my older daughter had to show us where to go to get back there to where they were. And I seen my daughter's shoes stacked up neatly beside the pond. And my daughter don't never stack shoes. She'll throw them in the corner or something, but she would never stack them on top of each other okay whoa whoa wait i find that really interesting what you're saying miss rickerson you mean the three girls shoes were stacked on top of each other only one pair and that belonged to my five-year-old little girl

tamari they only found her shoes out there because they followed us out there with my older daughter, Yamaria. So when you say the shoes were stacked up neatly, what do you mean by that? They were stacked on top of each other crisscross way, like one point in one direction and one point in the other one,

but they were stacked on top of each other. Yeah, you know what? People don't normally set their shoes down like that. My kids never do that. Never. What was going through your mind? I mean, I can't even imagine. I had one close call when my son went missing in a Baby's R Us Superstore.

And that was only briefly. And I can still remember very clearly the state I was in until I found him. So you get there and you hear your aunt calling out for your children. And I can only relate to losing John David in a Baby's Arrest Superstore. It was very brief before I found him. But I had my daughter, Lucy, under one arm like a football and was running through the store, screaming to shut the doors and lock the doors so nobody could get out with him. It was horrible. What do you recall was running through your mind, your state of mind,

when you hear your aunt calling out your children's names? My first thought is, like, why is she even in the field calling for them, knowing that they don't never go in the field? Like, it's kind of strange to me, obviously. Like, why are you out there? There's no reason to be out there. And then that's when my daughter, my older daughter, was explaining to me that's where they walked to. Let me ask you a question.

You say they would never have gone out in the field and that you guys didn't even know anything about this pond. How many children were with you then? You had three with you and three missing. Three. Okay. Guys, the search then takes a very dark turn. Take a listen to our friends at KSLA. We have an update to a story that we brought you over the weekend.

Texas Rangers are now investigating the drowning deaths of three girls in Cass County. Officials say they recovered the bodies of 9-year-old Zaharial Oliver, 8-year-old Amaya Harvey, and 5-year-old Tamari Oliver on Saturday morning near Cass County Road 3319. This after they were reported missing on Friday night. Officials say their bodies were found in a pond at a neighboring property of where they live. We brought in a dive team to help search efforts, underwater rescue or recovery. And about 1 or 2 o'clock on Saturday morning, we located all three victims.

And so they've been all sent off to autopsy and the investigation's been turned over to the Texas Rangers. And more from our friends at KSLA. Cass County officials are still trying to figure out what led to the drowning deaths of three young girls in a private pond yesterday. Officials say they recovered the bodies of 9-year-old Ziariel Oliver, 8-year-old Amaya Harvey, and five-year-old Tamari Oliver yesterday morning near Cass County 3319. This after they were reported missing Friday night. Officials say their bodies were found in a pond at a neighboring property of where they live.

Ms. Wilkerson, where were you when the girls' bodies were discovered? Standing in my yard close to the fence towards the field. What happened? We was just waiting there. A few divers came back, and we had asked them if they found anybody. They had told us no. And then about 45, 35 minutes later, the sheriff, I think that was, came up and told us that he, well, that they pulled out a child's body, one, out of the pond. And I had them describe the person to me.

And it was my eight-year-old, Amaya Hughes. And then what happened? Okay, wait a minute. The jackets were not in the pond? The jackets came from the trash and somehow they ended up in the pond. Why were the jackets in the trash? Because they were too little. So the jackets you knew had been put in the trash and they ended up in this pond? Yes ma'am. And they were tied tied? Yes, ma'am, like a rope. Okay, so at this point, you've been told that your eight-year-old Amaya has been found. You find out about the jackets. When were you told about Z'Ariel and Tamari? After they told me about Amaya, I took off to the hospital because I was having a heart attack,

so they ended up taking me from the scene. And then I ended up at the hospital in Atlanta, and my aunt came and followed me in behind afterwards, and I was later told about my other kids were pulled out. When do you remember the moment there in the hospital that you were told about Tamari and Zeriel? Briefly because they had to give me something to sedate me so it's like kind of a blur after they sedated me. To Dr. Manisha Panday, Chief Forensic Pathologist, LLC in Ohio. You can find her at theforensicpathologist.com. Dr. Manisha Panday, thank you for being with us. Dr. Panday, I know that it's true, but I've never understood how a shock or intense sorrow can actually bring on a heart attack.

It can happen. First of all, this is a devastating circumstance. And I'm very, very sorry, ma'am. So it can happen when your epinephrine, your hormones, they shoot up and they can cause a lot of stress to the heart. And then you can get a heart attack from that. You know, Dr. Panday, I'm projecting, but I remember when my father died, I had always had low blood pressure my whole life. But within about a week of his passing, my blood pressure shot up, it's never gone back down.

How can your mind or your emotions affect your body like that? They do, because there's so many hormones at play when you're stressed and when you're exposed to such intense grief that your body just sort of shuts down and it starts attacking yourself so in this case you get I mean heart is one of the major organs and then it stops um you know when there is a lot of stress to it you will have a hard time. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace To Dr. Patricia Wallace also joining

us. You can find her at drpcwallacetherapy.com. You know, Dr. Wallace, we've heard of people dying of a broken heart. It was always said that way, kind of like an old wives' tale. But actually, it's true. Yes, it is true. The body just begins to just shut down and it's unable to continue its normal pattern of, you know, blood flow, heart pumping. Yes, it's the grief. You're just the overwhelming sense of grief that in a sense just shuts the body down. You know, Dr. Manisha Pandey, there's something about a shock.

The only thing I think I can relate to is when I first started practicing law as a prosecutor, I saw a lot of shocking scenes. But I can recall when my fiance was murdered, I did not want to see his body in a coffin. And I went to the funeral home and avoided it. But I did see a sliver of his face. And I passed out. I completely passed out. It was just, I don't even remember passing out. Everything just went blank. And when I woke up, a lot had happened. I don't understand how, and I to this day don't understand, how does a shock, a mental or emotional shock, affect your physical body?

I still don't understand what you're saying. They're all connected. Our heart, our minds, our whole body is connected to each other. So when we're in such intense grief and such intense shock, our body shuts down. And then because of that, you need to pass out or you have a heart attack or, you know, your body will just say, or you'll get a chronic disease in terms of you can get high blood pressure eventually.

Ms. Wickerson, I know I told you before we started our program, but I just can't tell you enough how sorry I am for what you and your family have gone through. And to think that even now, this many months later, we still don't have a person of interest, we still don't have a suspect, we still don't have an answer to anything that has happened. Ms. Wickerson, how did you realize you were actually having a heart attack when they told you they had found Amaya in the pond? Because that wasn't my first one. That was my second one. I had one back in 2022 when my mom passed away from COVID. So I was already on heart medicine at the time. And I'm still is to this day. And I forgot to take my meds during the whole ordeal.

So when I decided to take it, it was kind of already too late. Ms. Bookerson, if there is anything we can do to help you and help this case, we all here at Crime Stories and Crime Online and Fox Nation, we all want to help you. I want to go forward with what we know about this case because the girls are fished out of the

water. Chris Byers joining me, long time colleague and now friend, former police chief Johns Creek, 25 years as a police officer now private investigator and polygrapher at LancasterServices.com Chris, thank you for being with us. Absolutely now private investigator and polygrapher at LancasterServices.com. Chris, thank you for being with us. Absolutely. Absolutely. My heart's out to Ms. Wilkerson.

Here's the kicker, Chris. The children knew not to go outside, not to go in that field. They instinctively would not have done it. These three little girls are not going to go through a field full of cows, through fences, to get to some pond in the middle of the woods that the mom didn't even know about that they had never been to at all. They're fished out of the water. And now we learn this. Take a listen to our friends at KYTX. A very sad update tonight on a story we first reported on last summer. In July of 2022, three siblings reported missing were found dead inside a nearby pond.

That news shocked the entire community and the Atlanta school district where those children attended class. Now we're learning the Texas Rangers are investigating their deaths as a homicide after autopsy reports returned showing evidence of strangulation. The girls also suffered some lacerations to their faces.

Authorities say multiple witness statements have been obtained. DNA testing is ongoing and that investigation will continue. If anybody has any information about their deaths, call Texas Ranger Josh Mason at 903-255-5727. So let me understand something too. Dave Mack joining us, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com. They did not die of drowning? Apparently, Nancy, these three girls were strangled first, then placed in the pond. Guys, you keep hearing the word Atlanta and Texas Rangers. It's because there is an Atlanta, Texas.

That's where this has happened, out in a rural area, Atlanta, Texas. Dave Mack, would you please repeat that again? I just need to let it sink in. What? It's the most heinous thing, Nancy. These three girls were strangled. And by the way, they mentioned lacerations on all of their faces.

They deep cuts, lacerations on their faces. Then they were strangled. Then they were placed in the pond. Chris Byers. I do not understand why this COD, cause of death, is just now being released. All this time, the media, the public, neighbors, all think the little girls wandered, even though mom is saying they would never have done that. That's just like somebody telling me John David and Lucy snuck out of the house last night and went and hot-wired a car and took off and they're in New Jersey right now. That would not happen.

She's telling us the girls would not go there. And now we're finding out that they didn't just go there mommy is right their COD is not drowning it's strangulation so now what do we do yeah absolutely and you know the from an investigator side of this as you know well time is of the essence on these cases and um not just the physical evidence that you you need to secure but you know you're losing witness evidence uh different things as time goes on um you know i'm sure the investigators kind of in the very beginning if i were to get

this case i mean you start looking at first thing you do is start looking at you know sex offenders in the area and any tag readers you may have out there, ring cameras. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Slow down, James Bond. Explain what you mean by tag readers. So one of the things, you know, that's very evolving in law enforcement now are tag readers. Some of them can be mounted on patrol cars. Some of them can be mounted on, you know, just a road sign, which records every tag that

goes down that road. One of the first things that I would do as an incident commander on a missing, you know, person, especially a missing child case, would be to get all of my patrol cars heading in opposite directions towards that scene that have tag readers on it to record every tag that comes through there. And then you can take that database and you can start to compare it to your sex offenders that are registered in the area, you know, your people that are out on parole. And it's just a great, quick way to start to, you know, really whittle down who your suspect pool is. Okay, what about this? Let me throw a wrench in the works. Chris Byers with me, former police chief, Johns Creek, now at LancasterServices.com.

This is a very small rural area. The population is about 5,500. Now that, unless you're near a big interstate, that greatly reduces your suspect pool. And I'll remind you again of the case of Shasta and Dylan Groney, who lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I mean, you fly over it, which I have done, you see nothing but forest green. That's all you see. But they were near an interstate.

And a guy driving a truck on the interstate looks out and sees Shasta at an above-ground pool from the interstate. He goes and lays in wait. The family go to sleep, kills all of them to take Shasta and Dylan, kills Dylan after molesting both of them over and over and over and over. So what I'm saying, that type of stranger on victim crime can happen in a very, very low population area, but it's rare. So would you agree with that, Chris? Yeah, I would absolutely agree with that. And just like you said, it really narrows down your suspect pool. You know, with these types of just like you said, it really narrows down your suspect pool. You know, with these types of investigations, you always start within and then you work your way out. And so just like you're saying, you're starting with, you know, that small pool right around where this crime happened, who had access to them.

And who would have known about it? Let me ask you this right off the top. Ms. Wickerson, where was the bio dad of these children at the time that they went missing? I don't have any communication with any of them. So they were nowhere around. No, ma'am. And certainly not taking a part in helping you raise the children. No, ma'am.

No visits, no money, no nothing. No, ma'am. No visits, no money, no nothing? No, ma'am. And here you are working at night as certified nurse's aide at a rest home to support the children. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Wickerson, when you were told that your three girls initially thought to have been drowned by accident in this pond, even though you kept saying that did not happen. When you were told they were actually strangled, what went through your mind? My mind kind of went left when they were telling me this. They had to literally stand in front of me because I was trying to get out the door. And I guess they probably thought that I was going to go probably hurt my cousin or something.

The one that was babysitting that should have been watching them. Let me let me ask you a question. When they first told you that the three girls were strangled, put in a pond, and abandoned, could you even believe it? No. No, I did not. How many times did they have to tell you the girls were strangled? They kept repeating it more than five times. They just kept repeating it over and over. I ask you that from personal experience because when my fiance was murdered, I remember I would have to get, days had passed. I'd have to keep going to my mom

and or my dad and go, is Keith dead? He's dead. Keith is dead. I couldn't take it in. What is that, Dr. Patricia Wallace? You're the shrink when you really can't absorb it. Your mind cannot absorb it. What is that called? Absolutely right. It's like the psychogenic fugue where you just go blank. You don't remember anything. Nothing related to that situation. It's like you can't believe it. Mm-hmm. Ms. Wickerson,

it's really hard for me to even ask the next question because I'm trying to absorb everything you're telling me. To Dr. Manisha Pandey, and all of us are hearing Ms. Wickerson trying to make sense of what we are hearing. Dr. Pandey, if there were lacerations on these girls' faces, that had to have happened before

they were strangledled wouldn't it? Because once you're strangled and you've passed on there wouldn't be you wouldn't bleed right? There wouldn't be real evidence of the lacerations would there? So lacerations depending on how deep they were would have happened either at the time or just before the time of death. Ms. Wickerson, when the girls were at the funeral home, could you describe the lacerations on their face? Well, I couldn't really see any lacerations on Tamari and Amaya besides busted lips, but on the Ariel Robinson, my older child, my nine-year-old, they had to reconstruct one side of her face. Why? It looked like she took a beating on one side of her face

and it tore her skin off. So they had to reconstruct one side of her face. How so many people could have thought this was his drowning is really beyond me. But that said, Ms. Rickerson, I have to ask you a very difficult question. When the girls were found, were all three of them clothed? Did they have their clothes on? I was told that they did have clothes on, just two of them did not have any shoes. Did have clothes on? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Wickerson, do you believe that any of your three girls that were found in that pond had been molested? At the time, no, ma'am, I didn't. What about now? From the autopsy and what we were told by the Texas Rangers, yes, there were. All three. Ms. Wickerson, who was there taking care of them that night while you were at work?

My cousin, Terrence Pops. Is that a male or a female? That's a male. And where is he right now? He lives back with his mother, Lamisha Pops. How old is he? 31. Has he ever described to you what happened the night the girls went missing? He won't even talk to me or nobody else. Did he attend the funerals? Yes, but he was asleep. He what? He was asleep. At the funeral? Yes. Have cops questioned him? No. His mom told

him not to talk to the police and she told them to stay away from him and her house. His full name is Paris Pops, P-O-P-P-S? Paris Armand Pops, yes ma'am. And is he related to you or to the girl's bio dad? He is related to me. In what way? His mom is my aunt, and my mom is his aunt. And to this day, he's never explained to you what happened the night the girls ended up in that pond? No, ma'am. Can the other girls describe anything, or are they too young to recount what they observed?

My four-year-old have already told Texas Rangers that the girls went in the woods with parents, and that came from my four-year-old. But they said she's too little. Where does the case stand right now, Dave Mack? It's an open investigation, Nancy, and the Texas Rangers are asking the public for help. Guys, if you know or think you know anything about this case, please dial 903-255-5727. Repeat, 903-255-5727. Repeat, 903-255-5727. No one has been named a person of interest or a suspect yet.

Ms. Wickerson, is it true that you have been trying to reach the Texas Ranger, specifically Ranger Josh Mason, and you cannot even get a phone call back? That is correct. What's happening? It's like I'm trying to get, I'm trying to ask him if there's any news, whatever they have, can he speak with me, give me some details or anything about my kid's case. But it's like he's just dodging my calls my voicemails um the crime victim lady also has messaged josh mason to call me and he emailed her back and said that he would and that was back in january and he still has not called to this day or answered his phone the only time i'll say he called he called last week from a unknown

number but left a voicemail asking me have people called me since they did a press release and then when i tried calling back he didn't even answer so he's concerned about media yes he wants me to see if people will come to me, tell me stuff, and I give it back to him because they want me to do their investigation for them. I mean, Chris Byers, former police chief, when I hear things like I'm hearing right now, and I've always had great respect for the Texas Rangers, I'm embarrassed as law enforcement myself. It's embarrassing. Yeah, it's absolutely embarrassing. Communication with the family, especially in, you know, crimes of this nature is vital. Yeah,

and I want communication buyers, but I want a suspect. I want a suspect at a trial. And I can't, we can't even get a phone call. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.