Crime Weekly - S2 Ep103: Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins: The Bike Ride (Part 1)

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

It was a hot Summer afternoon in July of 2012 when young cousins, Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins happily rode away from Eizabeth’s house in Evansdale, Iowa. No one could imagine that these two little girls would never return home, and even though their bicycles and belongings were found within hours of them being reported missing, it would take months to find their bodies and lay them to rest. Over the last decade, the loss of Elizabeth and Lyric has had ripple effects through their community, and the stress and pain of never knowing what happened caused a rift amongst their family members. And with the recent arrest of Riched Allen, the suspect in the Delphi murders case, law enforcement has been investigating a possible connection between Allens and what happened to Elizabeth and Lyric in Evansdale just five years prior. Both crimes took place in small Midwestern towns of just a few thousand people, Evansdale is only three hundred miles from Delphi. Both crimes involved the horrific murders of two young girls who were out together alone, and there has been discussion about how the dates of both disappearances are anagrams of each other, with Elizabeth and Lyric vanishing on 7-13-12, and Abby and Libby going missing on 2-13-17. Try our coffee!! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.com Become a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeekly Shop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shop Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcast Website: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.com Instagram: @CrimeWeeklyPod Twitter: @CrimeWeeklyPod Facebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod ADS: You deserve one less thing to worry about. Let Daily Harvest take care of the fruits + veggies for you. Go to DAILY HARVEST dot com slash crimeweekly to get up to forty dollars off your first box! That’s DAILY HARVEST dot com slash crimeweekly for up to forty dollars off your first box! DAILY HARVEST dot com slash crimeweekly. Once you try Pretty Litter, it’ll be the only litter you ever use. Go to  Pretty Litter dot com slash crimeweekly to save twenty percent on your FIRST order. That’s Pretty Litter dot com slash crimeweekly to save twenty percent on your first order. Pretty Litter dot com, slash crimeweekly. Help your family share their story this holiday season with StoryWorth. Go to StoryWorth dot com slash crimeweekly today and save $10 on your first purchase! That’s S-T-O-R-Y-W-O-R-T-H dot com slash crimeweekly to save $10 on your first purchase! StoryWorth dot com slash crimeweekly. Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders AND two free pillows for our listeners! Go to Helix Sleep dot com slash crimeweekly. With Helix, better sleep starts now. Right now, get up to 55% off your subscription when you go to BABBEL dot com slash CRIMEWEEKLY. That’s BABBEL dot com slash CRIMEWEEKLY for up to 55% off your subscription. Babbel—Language for life.

It was a hot summer afternoon in July of 2012 when young cousins Lyric Cook Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins happily rode away from Elizabeth's house in Evansdale, Iowa, on their bikes. No one could imagine that these two little girls would never return home, and even though their bicycles and belongings were found within hours of them being reported missing, it would take months to find their bodies and lay them to rest. Over the last decade, the loss of Elizabeth and Lyric has had ripple effects throughout their community, and the stress and pain of never knowing what happened caused a rift amongst their family members. And with the recent arrest of Richard Allen, the suspect in the Delphi murders case, law enforcement has been investigating a possible connection between Allen and what happened to

Elizabeth and Lyric in Evansdale just five years prior. Both crimes took place in small Midwestern towns of just a few thousand people. Evansdale is only 300 miles from Delphi. Both crimes involved the horrific murders of two young girls who were out together, alone. And there's been discussion about how the dates of both disappearances are anagrams of each other, with Elizabeth and Lyric vanishing on 7-13-12, and Abby and Libby going Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow. And I'm Derek Levasseur. So there's a few different reasons why we decided to cover this case on Crime Weekly. And the first reason is because I had already been looking into the disappearance and the deaths of Elizabeth and Lyric months ago.

Actually, it was when we were covering the Summer Wells case. And so at that point, it was a lot, you know, between Summer's case, which also included the disappearance of a young girl, and then this one, it did feel really heavy at the time. And I have to admit, you know, I'm always a little bit more sensitive and vulnerable when it comes to cases with kids. So I kind of put it aside. I put a pin in it knowing that I would return to it later when I was ready and when I was up for it. Awards, considering that the person who is suspected of being responsible for or involved in the deaths of Abby Williams and Libby German in Delphi, Indiana, they might also have some connection to what happened to Lyric and Elizabeth. And, you know, it doesn't necessarily feel like a

huge stretch because I think even we've said before that it didn't feel like what happened to Abby and Libby was the crime of a first timer. You know, it felt like somebody who had done something like that before and gotten away with it. And that's how they were able to sort of get away with it in this case in Delphi. Yeah. I mean, it's I read the probable cause hearing the transcript or the affidavit, I should say. And without making this about the Delphi case, the striations on the bullet casing are very important. And that's science. It's what I really enjoy talking about because it's not subjective, right? It's black and white.

It is what it is. But I will say this. Wait, were there striations? I thought it was an unspent bullet casing. Well, there's still striations because the striations come from the extraction of the bullet. So whether it's spent or not spent, when you rack it and the bullet flies out, those striations come from the extracting arm that pulls the bullet out of the shell casing out of the gun and onto the ground. So whether it's spent or not, it doesn't matter. The only time that would matter is if the round was fired, there'll be the impression mark on the back of the bullet, on the back of the shell casing where the firing pin hit. So you don't have that,

but the striations, again, that's what they take under a microscope and they can actually match up the lines and compare it to the shell casing that they tested in a laboratory to the shell casing they found at the crime scene. And it's almost like a fingerprint. They're really, it's hard to make them line up if they don't naturally do so. So that is really compelling information coupled with everything else we know about the case. But I will say, I was hoping- Hugely compelling information in that affidavit.

But just for the record, everyone, Richard Allen has pled not guilty. Yes. He is not guilty until found guilty in a court of law. I'm glad this is going to trial because I want to hear everything that they have against this dude. I believe it's him. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I do too, but I will say I was hoping for a little bit more as far as tying him to the crime. And maybe there's going to be digital evidence that will come up. As I said, the shell casing, the striations, it's great, but I hope there's more that ties him to this actual case. I know the clothing he was wearing allegedly that

day matches the suspect in the video. They said that he might still have that jacket, but they didn't say in the transcript. No, they said he has that blue jacket. There's an extended video where, and the police say, we know that it is him in that cell phone video, right? And then they gave an extended video where they hear one of the girls say he has a gun. Yeah. That was something where we kind of speculated. I said it had to be a gun or a knife to get them to go down the hill voluntarily when there's two of them. We said that. But I saw, maybe I missed it in the affidavit, it said it's believed his wife stated that he still had that jacket to this day, but it doesn't go on to state that when they did the search warrant, whether they recovered that

jacket or not. And I would think they would have put that in there, but I didn't see it, which made me wonder, okay, I know the wife said he still had it, but do they have it? Do the state police have it now? So those are the little things I want to hear about. I'm sure if they have it, it's going to be a major part of the case, but, um, we'll learn as we go to trial, like everyone's entitled to, um, due process and, you know, people were asking us to cover it again. Right now there's not much to cover.

We, we have the updates. You guys have them maybe um maybe we can do a short video for youtube next week going over that probable cause affidavit and stuff and talking about what that means just to update but we can't do a full episode but i do think it's worth talking about i thought it was very compelling very compelling the fact that he worked at the pharmacy man the fact that he worked at the pharmacy, man, the fact that he worked at the pharmacy and like everybody knew him, it blows my mind. Blows my mind. Yeah, that's the thing. That's something about this case.

And we also said that, you know, where it wasn't some transient passing through that. It was somebody who knew the area very well. And we also said that it was someone who didn't walk back up that path because they would have seen him. We actually pointed to the graveyard site and how this person would have went in, went down to the crime scene and then walked out the back way. And sure enough, from what the affidavit was saying, Richard Allen did what he did, allegedly walk through the woods, got was full of mud. And a witness actually saw someone matching his description description walking on the roadway back to his vehicle and i believe they said muddy and and also bloody it looked like he had been in a fight so it was pretty much spot on with what we had speculated again like you said you said it best we just got to wait and see if if he's the guy and if he is there's a special place in hell

for him and it's better late than never and he'll spend the rest of his life in prison so and he won't have a very good time there. I can assure you of that because prison is kind of the same across the country. Prisoners don't take kindly to crimes against children, no matter where you're at. So good luck, Richard, if it is, in fact, you. Yeah, it's crazy. But, you know, we did talk about when we talked about Delphi, we said this doesn't seem like somebody that just woke up one day and said, I'm going to do this. The way heduction and murder case of Lyric, Cook, Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins. You know, it's worth exploring and we will do that towards the end of these two episodes. So we're going to cover this case in two parts. I can say that confidently today and next week we will wrap this case up.

One more thing, because you just mentioned it, that it doesn't seem like someone just rolls out of bed and they do it. I want to talk quickly about Athena Strand because of what you just said. I agree with you that when you see these situations, it's not something that they just, this is the first time they did it. But I'll also say, and we don't know all the details with Athena Strand, but on the surface, she had a fight with her mother. She runs out of the building, out of the house. This FedEx driver sees her alone and she now becomes a victim of opportunity where there's an opportunity to take her to another location. Do I think this FedEx driver had no thought about this type of situation beforehand? Of course not. But he had never

had the opportunity to actually execute. We may learn that he's done this a million times. Yeah, but he got caught pretty quickly. He got, well, he came in from what I understand, and I don't know all the specifics, but he came in and admitted to it. So there's a real possibility here where this person has fantasized about this, has never actually done it until this opportunity presented itself. So we could have a situation where Richard Allen had thought about this on multiple occasions, was at the park that day, scouting the area, not knowing if he was going to do anything. And it wasn't until he saw Abby and Libby alone that he decided to follow through with it. We will find out, but I do think there's

a lesson we can all take from this right off the start. I tweeted about it. I know it's sucks to be in this mindset, but Athena teaches us anything. It's that it only takes a second. And whether it's the Amazon driver or some guy who's walking out with groceries at the shopping mall, you don't know who's near you. And it only takes a second for you to put yourself in a situation where even though the offender wasn't targeting you initially, now that you're complacent, AirPods in, on your phone, alone, in a dark area, whatever it might be, now you become someone who's enticing for that offender. So take advantage of the situation around you. Always try to put yourself in a safe situation if you can, because there's a

lot to learn from these situations. There's nothing that they should have had to prepare for. But unfortunately, we live in a world where there's scumbags and sickos everywhere, no matter where you live. And it only takes just one second for you to be off your game for someone to capitalize. So I hope everyone is staying safe out there and learning from these cases, not just listening to them, but learning how to better protect themselves and the people they care about. And this goes for unsupervised children as well. I mean, I know we wish we lived in a,

we wish we lived in a world where our kids could go out and play and be kids and ride bikes and have, you know, carefree times, but we just do not. And, you know, we'll talk about it during this case, but the law enforcement in this case, they did a lot of like talking about, hey, stranger abduction is the most rare form of abduction, blah, blah, blah. And that's true. But that does not mean that it doesn't happen. We know it does just because it's rare. Statistically doesn't mean it's not happening every single day all over the country. Do you want to be part of that statistic no although it's rare no I hate that I hate how law enforcement does it's almost like trying to like

calm us like comfort us don't worry it hurt no listen I people think I'm a freak because I'm in Target and then the second like if Bella walks behind me I'm like Bella and I'm screaming and my husband's always like calm down she's right there like no if my eyes are off of her for one second I'm screaming. And my husband's always like, calm down. She's right there. Like, no, if my eyes are off of her for one second, I'm melting down, I'm losing it. And she'll never be out of my sight. So, and that's what I have to do. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I'd rather look like a crazy person in Target than not have my daughter with me every day for the rest of my life. So, period. Couldn't agree more. And I know a lot of people are like, oh, don't baby them, you know, let them go. No, no, it, don't baby them. You know, let them go.

No. No, it's not babying them. We have to protect them until they're old enough to protect themselves. That's our job, to get them through to adulthood. That's our one job. And this is no parent shaming, you know. I wish that we could do it. No, God no. I wish we could let them.

We should be able to. Yeah. You should be able to let your kids go to the park. Yeah, we would have more resilient children in that case, I think, more independent children. We just have to figure out a way to do that while still keeping very close tabs on them. That's it. Athena Strand is just so scary because it's a second and it's literally on your front lawn. And I will speak personally, I can't tell you how many times Peyton or Tenley have been outside.

I'm right there too, but they were playing on the lawn and the Amazon driver comes up and gives them a high five. And I don't think we should generalize all delivery drivers as serial killers now, but it just goes to show you, you don't know who's delivering your packages. You don't know who's working on your utilities outside. Yeah. They might have a job. They might be someone who's functioning in society. It doesn't mean that behind closed doors, they're a monster. And it just so happens that because of their job, they're able to go to different areas, different communities and blend in. And if you see them enough times, it could be even a driver that has been to your house

a million times and nothing ever bad has happened. But the one time you turn your head to go grab a jump rope for your daughter or your son, that driver who's been out there, like I said, a million times sees little Johnny or little Jane sitting on the front lawn and grabs her or him and throws them in the back of the truck and they're gone. And that's it. There's no going back from it. So is it really worth the risk? Even that instant fear, I've had it a million times, I think all parents have, where you have your kid with you, you lose them for just a second and you lose all feelings. Your blood runs cold, man.

Yeah. It's the worst feeling in the entire world. So couldn't agree with you more. Hate covering these cases, but I think the reason that you and I do it is for this purpose is not only to put fear in ourselves again, but to also put a little fear in you guys, whether you have children or you have cousins or nephews or whatever in you guys, whether you're, whether you have children or you have cousins or nephews or whatever it might be, your nieces, it applies to everyone. And it even applies to yourself. I said it about the gym and all that. You have to be, you have to be careful out there because unfortunately the world is just not a safe place. And it sucks to say that, but it's the truth. People say I'm paranoid, man. But if I think a car's following

me, I'd be taking five, six turns, okay? Because I'm not having someone follow me home. That's it. And listen, it's my greatest fear that something happens to my kid. But keep in mind, while we're going through these next two episodes, as bad as it is for the parents, imagine what these kids have to go through. That's the truly terrifying. And I think that's what's the worst thing for the parents. It's one thing to, you know, God forbid your child die in a tragic accident. At least you know what happened. At least you know they're not in pain anymore. If they're missing, you don't know who has them. You don't know what's happening to them. Your mind will not stop. And it'll come up with the worst, absolute worst case scenarios, and that's torture.

So yeah, the last reason I wanted to come back to this case, because I was recently looking at other child disappearances in the area. For some reason, Iowa, man, has a lot of them. But I felt that for this one, I would like the help and perspective of someone who was familiar with the inner workings of a police investigation, because the police in this case happened to be very closed lip. And I kind of wanted to know, like, what are they thinking? What's going on? And I happen to be lucky enough to have someone just like that at my disposal. And that is you. So hopefully you can give us some insight on this case. I'll try. I'm the best you got, right? There's nobody else here. So were you looking? Oh, was that what you're doing? Looking behind you? It was a joke.

Like that was who's here? Who's going to help? You kind of scared me a little bit. I thought someone was actually in the room with you. Okay. Well, on that note, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. Okay, we're back. I just want to kind of set the stage here because when I broke this down during my initial research, there was a lot going on with the case. There is a lot going on with the case. And so to make it easier for myself, I kind of split all my notes into categories, the place, the people, the search, the investigation, similar cases, and then theories. And to make things easier for everyone listening, I'm going to sort of follow along with that same outline to try to explain this case to all of you in a very digestible way.

Because, like I said, there's a lot. So let's start with the place. Evansdale is a small town in northwest Iowa along the Cedar River. Just over four miles in total area and with about 4,500 people living there. And more than one-fourth of their 1,987 households have children under the age of 18. For the most part, Evansdale is a quiet place, but like many other small towns in the Midwest, they have their share of troubles with drugs, specifically meth. From what I can tell, a lot of people who live in Evansdale, they work for a handful of businesses

that sort of dominate the job market, such as John Deere and IBP, which is a meatpacking plant. So moving on to the people in this case, we will, of course, start with our two victims, Lyric and Elizabeth. Lyric Cook Morrissey was born on October 2nd, 2001. She was 10 years old when she went missing in 2012, and she stood, Dan Morrissey, they both had issues with drugs and with the law. And they'd actually spent a good part of the past decade in and out of jail, which we will talk about more later on in depth. But because of this, Lyric was mostly raised by extended family members, such as her grandmother, Wilma Cook, and her aunt and uncle, who are Heather and Drew Collins, and those are her cousin Elizabeth's parents. So we know that Lyric was a rambunctious girl who always had a smile on her face. She liked to be in charge.

She was the kind of kid who collected pennies, nickels, and quarters in a mason jar so she could buy more nail polish. She loved watching the Disney Channel. She loved listening to One Direction, and she participated in sports such as gymnastics. But as much as it may have seemed from the outside, like she had a carefree childhood, you know, a carefree child that she should have been at 10, there were obvious issues happening at home and with her parents, and this caused a strain on Lyric. Her grandmother Wilma claimed that after Lyric's father Dan had yelled at her for not doing her chores, the young girl had packed a bag and tried to run away from home, and this was just days before she disappeared. But Lyric did have someone close

to her that she loved and depended on, and that was her cousin Elizabeth Collins, who she actually had more of a sisterly relationship with since Elizabeth's parents had helped raise Lyric alongside Lyric's grandmother, Wilma Cook. Elizabeth Collins was born on July 31, 2003, and she was 8 years old when she went missing alongside her cousin Lyric. She stood at 4 feet 1 inch tall with brown hair and brown eyes. Elizabeth's parents were Drew and Heather Collins. Heather and Lyric's mother, Misty, were sisters, and at the time of her disappearance, Elizabeth and her mother had been having fun together planning Elizabeth's ninth birthday, which would have been at the end of July 2012.

Heather said that the morning Elizabeth went missing, she actually climbed into bed with her and they were discussing what kind of birthday party they were going to have. It was going to be Hawaiian-themed with a multi-tiered chocolate cake adorned with mermaids and goldfish. Elizabeth was reportedly very, very attached to her mother. She'd been homeschooled up until the second grade, at which point she had started attending Poinier Elementary School, where her teachers described her as very social, always the last one to finish her lunch because she was so busy talking. Elizabeth was known to give out high fives and hugs to her teachers in the hallways, and her parents described her as a sweet girl who loved snuggling, with a great smile and a

wonderful sense of humor, and everyone called Elizabeth Lizzie. She was a pretty girl, a girly girl, but she could also get rugged and dirty, and she loved playing outside with her cousin Lyric. Now, Elizabeth had actually just talked to her third grade teacher on the phone two weeks before she went missing, and she asked for her teacher's address because she had written her a letter. And this teacher said, quote, I couldn't get her off the phone, you know. She was wanting to tell me everything she'd done this summer. She'd gone swimming and played with her friends and rode her bike and all of these good things, end quote. So let's continue talking about the people involved in this case, starting with Lyric's parents, Misty and Dan

Morrissey. In 1997, Misty pleaded guilty to making a false report to police. The following year, she got a ticket for driving with an open container. And in 2003, she had been sentenced to four years in jail after pleading guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. And then she went back to prison for nine different crimes, including illegal drug use, association with persons involved in criminal activity, excessive alcohol use, and failure to comply with drug testing. So it looks as if Misty was a key member of a methamphetamine drug ring in the early 2000s, and she testified that she would receive pseudoephedrine pills from various people,

and she would then pass those pills on to a man named Scott Revis, and then he would use them to produce meth. And some people might say like, oh, well, why does she need to get the pills? You know, and it's because it's basically known now that people will use pseudoephedrine pills to make meth. So you can't really like go in and buy a bunch of them. There's like a limit as how much you can buy and they kind of keep track with your name and address. So this Scott Rivas dude couldn't just keep going into Walgreens every single day and buying like 50 packs of these pills. He had to have sort of minions get the pills for him and then give them to him. And it looks like Misty sort of orchestrated all of that. Yeah. And also known as Sudafed, right? It's known as Sudafed. It's what the main brand is. And you're right. Sometimes they keep it behind the counter, depending on the pharmacy, the area where it is. And they do keep track of it. And I will tell you

this, when I was working with the DEA, I went off to a school for the DEA and we didn't actually do it or we used it. We did do it, but we use something else other than Sudafed. But methamphetamine is a very simple drug to make, which is why it's the drug of choice to make because you don't really need a lot of items, but we actually did it. And the reason we did it is because with these meth labs, it's not really big in the Northeast yet, but we're concerned that it's going to come this way because of how inexpensive it is to make it. The problem is not only is the drug really dangerous if not made correctly, it's dangerous no matter what, but it can be lethal if not made correctly. The real fear that we have is as law enforcement officers going into these raids, if the chemicals

aren't mixed correctly, there's this odorless gas in the air. And that's why sometimes you go into these meth labs, these homemade meth labs, and everyone inside is dead. And what happens is the minute law enforcement goes in there, it only takes a couple of minutes, you will pass out and you will die as well. So we were working on the chemistry of how it's made so that you know all the items that would be needed because some of them just look like regular items. So you're better prepared so that if you do enter a house like that, even though it may not be for methamphetamine, if you see these items in a particular order or something being some type of system being set up on a table, you know, to get out of there immediately. And they can bring in

machines that can measure the gases in the air to make sure everyone doesn't die. So it's crazy. Meth is a really scary drug. And it was something where in my community, we were always looking for information about individuals who are going into CVSs or Walgreens or whatever, and buying large amounts of Sudafed because obviously they slip through the cracks sometimes. And like you just said, you can have multiple individuals who are working together all go in there and buy two or three boxes because they saw something online where they can make some drugs really cheap and make a profit off of it. So they don't, they're not doing the research. They just want the profit and they're not, they're not doing it correctly.

And we're trying to impede their ability to get up to the North as long as we can, although it's gonna happen eventually, unfortunately. Meth is the worst drug ever. It turns you into a monster. It makes you care about nothing. You don't care about yourself. You don't care about your kids.

You don't care about your family. You don't care if you die as long as you're getting that next fix. And I have very, very personal experience with this. So don't come for me in the comments telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, because y'all like to assume that. Meth is also dangerous to make. It will explode your entire house.

You've got kids coming into the hospital because they've been exposed to this stuff. They're going through withdrawal. Their central nervous system is shot. It destroys everything and everyone around it. So it's bad news. And to the Midwest is just wrought with this stuff. It's everywhere. In fact, I was in for another case. They've got so many meth lives and it's less and less now because now they say the meth is coming over from Mexico. So they have to deal with that. So yeah, they're getting less. They're having less like meth labs. But I mean, they have like mobile meth labs. They were finding them in the trunk of people. And you understand how dangerous this is considering how flammable

and explosive these chemicals and compounds are to even have it like on the go. It's just insane. But people will do anything because like you said, it's easy to make. It's cheap to make. They can sell it to these people that are already hooked on it to the point where these people will do anything,

sell their own kids. OK, there have been hundreds of instances of people selling their own children to get this math. It is terrible. So, yeah, bad news bears all around. Oh, and then the people who start off like Misty,

you know, the people who just start off just like making it or like helping to make it, of course, they get hooked on it too, you know, and then once you get hooked on it, it's very difficult, very difficult to get off. It's a physical dependency and emotional dependency. It's a physical dependency, an emotional dependency. It's just disgusting. Yeah, you'll have people be on methadone for years, clean, but still haven't used methadone for years and still not able to completely shake it. And that's the only way they're able to survive. As you said, everything you said is true. It's a really dangerous drug. It's horrendous. So poor Lyric.

We've got her dealing with Misty, her mother, who's kind of wrapped up in this stuff. And I mean Because now we have, additionally, Lyric's father, Dan, he also had several drug possession and burglary charges going all the way back to the early 90s. But he also had a domestic assault charge. A year after his daughter's disappearance, Dan Morrissey faced 11 charges in four cases that dated back to 2011, including charges of possessing, dealing, and making meth, and an assault charge brought by his estranged wife, Misty, Larrick's mother. Actually, the day before his daughter and her cousin vanished, Dan Morrissey had appeared in court for a hearing in which he was scheduled to change his plea for all four cases. So it looked like there was like a deal, like he made a plea deal that covered all the cases and he reached this

deal with the prosecutors, but then he inevitably decided to not plead guilty. And the day before Lyric and Elizabeth went missing, he was in court changing his plea to not guilty. According to the Gazette, Morrissey's most recent legal troubles began in July of 2011, when he was pulled over in Waterloo, which is a neighboring town, and he was found to be in possession of baggies containing meth and marijuana. The next month, in August of 2011, he was arrested and charged with domestic abuse after police said he threw his wife Misty to the ground, smashed her face into the floor, put his knee over her neck so she could barely breathe, and he broke one of her fingers. After that, Dan Morrissey was ordered to have no contact with Misty, but that order was modified when their daughter was abducted so that they could appear

together in connection with the ongoing investigation. The following October, after Lyric went missing, police found Dan hiding under the porch of a vacant house with drugs, including an eight ball that he admitted he was supposed to deliver. In December, the police served a warrant at a home where they detected a chemical odor and found meth-making materials such as lithium batteries, fuel, and empty blister packs and boxes of pseudoephedrine. And Dan was arrested again. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. So we're back. So I kind of just went through very briefly Misty and Dan Morrissey's backgrounds, their criminal backgrounds, their backgrounds with drugs and things like that.

Obviously, normally I wouldn't like start off with this, but I think it's very relevant to the point where if you notice, there wasn't a lot that I had to say about Lyric. I had more to say about Elizabeth and less to say about Lyric because there just wasn't a ton out there about Lyric. It was like nobody was really watching her grow up with the attention that a parent would pay, you know, because your parent always knows you better than anybody and they know what moods you're in. They know what you like for breakfast. You know, if you parent always knows you better than anybody and they know what moods you're in. They know what you like for breakfast. You know, if you asked me about like my daughter, Bella, I could talk for three hours. I know everything she likes and that could change next month.

And then we would have another three hour conversation. But with Lyric, it was like it didn't seem it seemed like her grandmother, Wilma, was doing her best and other family members, but not with the attention to detail that a parent would give. And not only were Lyric's parents kind of in and out of legal troubles, but they also seemed to probably be fighting their own demons and dealing with their own stuff too much to really pay attention to Lyric the way that she deserved and the way she should have been paid attention to. And that doesn't mean that they're bad people and it doesn't mean that they're responsible for anything, but it is relevant going forward. when I start thinking about potential suspects, I wonder what type of individuals were around them and therefore around their children, which would be significant in this case. We've talked about it in previous cases where we've questioned the parents and their motives and maybe some of their personal choices and how they could have affected their children going missing. And this case is no different. This is extremely relevant. And if we want to look at these investigations with all the information, you unfortunately have to bring up the parents past because they're the people that are ultimately responsible for their children. And when you have a background like this, where even after the child goes missing,

you still have dad being found under a porch with an eight ball. So that just shows you the headspace that he's in at this time. Clearly, it's not good. So, yeah, it's important to know because as of right now, everyone's a suspect. And that includes not only the parents, but also the parents associates. Yeah. And it's not like, you know, if the parents had, you know, a ton of traffic tickets or if they didn't pay their taxes, like I probably. Yeah, it's different.

Yeah, I wouldn't bring that up because like you said, it's really about the company you keep. And we know that people who are not only involved in doing drugs, but involved in the manufacturing and selling of drugs, they can get pretty ruthless and it doesn't matter, you know, who they hurt as long as they get their money or they get their substances so that's going to be important and it's not just something that we should look into but it is something police looked into and additionally you're going to see that there's a break between misty who's lyric's mother and heather her sister who's elizabeth's mother and we'll talk more about this in in the

next part but it seemed like heather kind of felt that there may be some connection. And she's really never let go of that. And I think that that's very important because that's your sister. So if you have that gut feeling, you have it for a reason. And we shouldn't ignore that, especially because, you know, Heather seems to believe there may have been some connection, even though it also seems she doesn't want to believe that. She wants to believe that there is no connection.

So we'll talk more about that. But it doesn't mean necessarily that there is or that if there is, Misty and Dan Morrissey even know that there is, if that makes sense. Yeah, it makes total sense. Yeah. They could, yeah, the person that they allowed under their roof, even know that there is, if that makes sense. Yeah, it makes total sense. Yeah, they could.

Yeah. The person that they allowed under their roof may be the person and they don't even know it. Exactly. It could have nothing to do with, oh, they owed money or this is, you know, getting back. It could just be like you let the wrong person get too close, period. Yeah. You let the wolf into the hen house. Yeah. Because you're not making the best judgment calls, you know. Right. And it's something important to talk about with meth meth dealers in particular because there are no drug dealers a good drug dealer Let's just clear the table with that one. But with certain drugs the people who are manufacturing the people who are distributing it They're not always necessarily using their product. They're usually selling it. They're made they're there to make money That's their motive with meth dealers the majority of the time they're

users themselves and they're doing it as a means to an end yeah they're making their product for themselves but they're also scaling it up so that you can support their habit which obviously allows them to make some bad decisions because they're on the product they're selling and that is something in my limited experience with it you do normally you don't find a meth dealer who's just the business person who's selling it for the sake of profit. Usually it's because they're hooked on it as well. I completely agree with you. We, we used to call them tweakers and

you could always tell, um, you could always tell they come up and they're like, you want this? And they're like itching and they're fricking dark eyes are darting all over the place and they're clearly on it themselves. Right. And for me, as somebody who is not using it, that's all I need to see to know I don't want to use it. But some people get some people get wrapped up into this and a lot of it is an escapism. Like they just want to forget and they want to not feel. But it's a very, very much a downward spiral. So Misty Morrissey, she claimed that when her daughter went missing, she sort of knew that their past issues were going to resurface. And so she tried to get ahead of it. This was maybe on like the second day and we were doing the searches and there was a reporter there.

I just I went up and I was like, you know, I have a criminal history. And I just, I mean, I'm just being really open about that. Because I'm sure that's going to come up. Because I do know how judgmental people will be. And I know how people think and operate. And that's okay. It was okay with me. My past is my past. I've dealt with it.

And I've paid my time in so many different ways. I knew that I didn't have anything to do with this. And my only desire was really just to put everything out on Front Street so that, you know what I mean, we could do our best at finding where these girls were, you know. I mean, there were people that I had dealt drugs with in the past that I said, these are the people I bought drugs from, and, you know, and I told those people, I was like, hey, I let the cops know that we'd had interactions in the past, and they don't care about that. They just, they just want to know as much information as they can to anything that could lead to finding them.

And anybody that I had ever associated with was completely fine with that. I'm glad that we saw that clip because we are kind of doom and gloom on people who use and sell meth. But I will also say there is this culture, this code where even some of the baddest people that I've encountered, when a child goes missing or when the crime involves a child, even though they don't like me and I don't like them, we have conversations, off-record conversations where they're putting feelers out. And if they get wind about something, they will get that information to us because there are certain things that are off limits in their communities as well. And so what she's saying here, as far as her being honest and telling the people that she had dealt with, like, you know, I've told the police about you

and, you know, in regards to my daughter and they're like, yeah, it is what it is. Like if we hear anything or we can, even though we have our own issues, if we, when it comes to kids, regardless of our own personal vices, if we, if there's anything we can do to help we're in, and if we find out that it's one of our own, they're probably not going to go to the cops. They're going to deal with it themselves. So that is a common occurrence. And I find her very believable in that, in that interview where she's like yeah i had some issues and i wanted to put it right out there and i also put it out there with the people that i was interacting with that were also doing illegal things and i believe that what she relayed as far as their

response that's that's something anecdotally that i've i found to be true uh just so you know this interview was done in 2022 just for the record so So that you know, and everyone listening knows. So what, I don't know, that's 20 years, right? It's been a long time. Yeah. Cause they went missing in 2012. Yeah. So it's 10 years. I am not good at math. That's okay. 10 years. So, so it's, but I do, I find it completely believable. Like you said, there had some time has passed. So with any case you can always, you know, revisionist history, you can always change what you, what you originally thought and make it line up with the current narrative. But as far as her interactions with her, let's call them peers, their response to it. That sounds that sounds appropriate.

That sounds believable. Yeah. And I will say at the time of lyrics disappearance and I'm going to touch on this later, but if I remember correctly, Misty had gotten out of jail and she had just recently moved out of a halfway house that previous May, May to June, two months. She's been kind of back and it looked like at that point she was clean. So she probably did talk to older associates or past associates, but nobody who she was actively doing drugs with or selling drugs with or things like that for the record. Yeah. I will say based on that video, it looks like she's cleaned herself up a lot as well. So it sucks that it took her daughter being taken from her for that to happen. But it does look like just on the surface after a minute that she's definitely in a better place physically than she probably was back then.

Definitely. And, you know, at the time of the disappearances, Dan and Misty, they were estranged, obviously, because of that domestic abuse incident. He was living at his mother's house with his son, Dylan, who was 16 years old at the time. And, you know, I did just talk about this. Misty had been released from prison the previous May. She'd recently started a new job and she was working at a convenience store in Elk Run Heights, which is where she was on the day her daughter went missing.

So Elizabeth's parents, Heather and Drew, they have less going on with them. You know, they don't have these extensive criminal backgrounds, things like that. They just seemed like, you know, normal parents that went to work every day and did what they could. And there's nothing that kind of stands out about their past. The last time Drew Collins spoke to his daughter was the night before she went missing when he tucked her into bed and kissed her goodnight. The next day he got up before everyone else because he owns a tree service business and he wanted to get an early start to his day because it was supposed to be hot that afternoon. This is July, so I do know that people who work landscaping do like to work before kind of the sun hits high noon because then it just becomes intolerable. And Heather was actually at home with Elizabeth that day, but she had to run some errands in Cedar Valley.

So she asked her mother, Wilma, to come over and watch Elizabeth. Now, Wilma was also watching Lyric that day because Misty was working, so she came over with Lyric and the two cousins started happily playing together. But before I dive into that, let me lay out a few points for you. Lyric and Elizabeth were at Elizabeth's house. That's located at 166 Brovan Boulevard in Evansdale. Now, a little after 11 a.m., Lyric and Elizabeth wanted to go out and ride their bikes. And Wilma told them that they could do that as long as they didn't go far, because Lyric's mother, Misty, would be getting out of work at 1 p.m and she would be there to pick them both up by 1 30 p.m to bring them back to wilma's house i guess because it did look like at that time that misty and lyric were living with wilma wilma also expected that the girls would be back for lunch and for a drink,

as they'd been doing all summer while they'd been out playing together and riding their bikes. They usually come home around that like noon hour or one hour, and then they would get a snack and a drink. Now, Lyric and Elizabeth actually left at around 1130 a.m. Allegedly. That is also a little muddled. Their bikes would later be found at Myers Lake, which is across town. So remember that Evansdale is a small town of about four miles. According to Google Maps, Myers Lake is 4.7 miles away from Elizabeth's home, even though all the media sources I've read have printed that the lake was just about a mile away. Now, I don't know.

Is that like as the crow flies? As far as I could tell, driving directions put it at further, like 4.7 miles. But that could just be because, you know, of the route you have to take. I'm not sure, honestly, why they said it was like less than a mile. It looked like it was a little bit further. But either way, Myers Lake is actually just outside of Waterloo, which is a neighboring town. And Myers Lake is also close to Interstate 380.

And it seemed to be a popular place for locals to hang out, especially during the summer because there were a lot of fish in the lake and there was a little playground for the kids, even though no one was actually allowed to swim in the lake because there was a swimming ban. But, you know, there's plenty of other stuff to do. And you could hop on the Evansdale Nature Trail if you wanted to hike or ride bikes.

So the Evansdale Nature Trail actually starts at the lake and it wraps around the lake, passing through Arbitus Avenue, Gilbert Drive, Brookside Avenue, Central Avenue, East End Avenue, Morrell Avenue, and then it ends at Lafayette Road, which actually, if you look at this map, it's pretty close to Broven Boulevard, where they started their bike ride. So their bikes would be found at Myers Lake, but Elizabeth and Lyric's bodies would not be found in this area. They would be found much further away. Now, like I said, the timeline is a little iffy because most printed articles and even some interviews have Wilma, the grandmother, saying that she last saw the girls riding their bikes between 1215 and 1225, but there is a recorded interview with Wilma where she says they left at

11.30. They left the house at 11.30. I was supposed to take Eric and be home by 1.30, and at 12.30, Heather came. I said, the kids aren't back. And so Kelly, the 12-year-old grandson, So from what I could find, this is the only recorded interview with Grandma Wilma. And I know the sound quality is poor because she's out at Lake Myers. It's windy, but you can hear her say that the girls left at 1130. It's like the first thing she says in this clip, and then she says that Heather Collins got home at 1230, and that's when they started to look for Lyric and Elizabeth. Wilma also said in another interview that the girls often went for bike rides, but they never went that far. She said they only stayed within like a block or two and she would always be able to go outside and yell their names and they could hear her. So they were never like

out of earshot, basically. That's interesting that you would say that because if you can't see them, you have to assume that probably branching out a little further each time. I know that's what I did. I always want to see on the next ride how far we can go and get back in time. So I'm sure most of the time she could probably yell for them and they would come. But I would assume this wasn't the first time that they were outside of where grandma maybe thought they were. 100% agree. Just because I was a kid once.

Yeah, we all did it. Yeah, you push your boundaries. Where's the border? How far can we go? Okay, we're going to go a little bit past that. Yeah, especially if you know nobody's really paying that close of attention. Like grandma might come outside and yell your name, you know, but if she doesn't hear you, you're just going to be back soon and you'll just tell her you didn't hear her. And better to ask for forgiveness than permission. And at four miles or five miles is what you're

saying. Even if it's a little less, I'm not a biker, but I would think that would probably only take maybe 15 minutes from Elizabeth's house, five, 4.5 miles. Depends how fast they're riding, obviously, but. That's a fast bike rider, right? Like I feel like feel like yeah i'm thinking like if you run if you run a mile it usually takes you like eight minutes so if you're if you're if you're like a trained athlete damn like eight to ten minutes if it's you know there's some people that run like six minute miles but um let's say 10 let's say it's taking them i guess it would take longer than that right because if it's taking them eight to ten minutes per mile then then it's like, it's like 30 to 40 minutes. So yeah, maybe 15 minutes is too fast actually. And I mean, I guess it would also depend on like what route were they taking and,

you know, did they only stick to like bike trails? Did they only stick to like the nature trail? If that's the case, you know, it's kind of more roundabout, it's going to take longer. Well, I was going to say that to you too, because you were like, oh, some people say it's closer. Like, I wonder when you were doing the maps to figure it out, that's usually using like streets like to get there that way, where if you're familiar with the area, there might be paths that actually make it a lot faster where you're cutting off a major part of the road where it's a more direct route, whether it's a bike path or an ATV trail that might've, even though the distance is about the same, it might've taken less time. And you wouldn't know that on a Google map or Waze or something like that. So I wonder about that. Yeah, you could put like biking in instead. You can hit the little bike icon. No, but ATV trails and stuff wouldn't pop up. Like if it's

something in the woods that just been manmade, a bike trail definitely i agree with you there but like atv trails things that are used like that have been made by people from the community i have them all over my uh area around where i live where it's not it's not on any map but over the years the kids have made dirt bike and atv trails where they're able to get from the quarry to back to the area where like the more suburban area is without even touching police because they can't have the dirt bikes on the on the main roads okay so check this out when i when i put it in and choose the little bike icon it says 1.7 miles via the evansdale nature trail and that would only take eight minutes there you go really that wasn't that far so there you go so it does make sense now that within a 10 let's just

say 10 minutes to be conservative 10 minutes from elizabeth's home they're already at that the myers lake so not long at all and they'll and they know in their head, hey, listen, we have to be back in an hour or half hour or whatever it was. So they can get there, go there, make that their waypoint, and then get back and still be on time. And grandma never knows the difference. Yeah. And taking that Evansdale Nature Trail, which like I said, kind of wraps around the lake and sort of ends back up right around where they started off, which was Elizabeth's house. If they take that, it's pretty much just a direct, like straight shot. You make one turn, well, two turns, one when you leave and one when you get there. But yeah, absolutely. So there you go. So that's what everyone's saying. That's what everyone's talking about. So at least

now we know it is, yeah, about a mile, mile and a half. So quick shot right from the house. Yeah. Okay. So we're going to take a quick break. But when we come back, we're going to talk about how Elizabeth and Lyric were spotted by a few people while they were out on their bike ride. And hopefully that gives us a better indication of the timeline, even though, spoiler alert, it really doesn't. But we will take a quick break and we'll be right back. All right, so while the girls were out on their bikes, they were spotted by several eyewitnesses, several alleged eyewitnesses, and one surveillance camera. At 12.15 p.m., they were seen on video surveillance behind Letterman's Big and Tall Clothing Shop, and they were headed west on Brovan Boulevard.

So I'm going to show you on this map. I'm going to have Shannon put this map up, and Derek, if you want to pull up your video, you can actually watch along. This is where the girls were at 12.15 p.m., and then if you see, right there is where the security camera is, like on that building, on the backside of that building. And then that little pin is where they were sort of driving by and the security camera picked them up. This is the location, that little house icon, is where Elizabeth Collins' house was. So their starting point. When they were seen on surveillance, they were heading in the opposite direction that they would have been going if they were biking towards Myers Lake. But I think my question would be if they left at 1130 a.m., which is what we heard Grandma Wilma say in that interview, what were they doing in that area 45 minutes later?

And I guess I was kind of going over the reasons why that would be. Maybe Grandma Wilma was wrong about the time they left and maybe they actually had left closer to noon or maybe they did start riding their bikes around 1130, but they kind of stayed close to Elizabeth's house for that like 40, 45 minutes or so. And then they started venturing out around noon. They kind of left their their normal area. What do you make of that? I think both scenarios are possible. If we learned anything from the Hey Min Lee series was that people, when it comes to remembering the exact time, unless they have a point of reference, it's really easy to screw up, especially when you go through something this traumatic where you realize that something bad has happened and you're not looking at your watch to see what time it was.

You're guessing, but it could be something that's completely innocent where you're trying to be helpful and you say a time, and yet you're completely wrong. And it's just the way it goes. But I also think what you said as far as them maybe staying around for a little bit,

maybe being gone longer than she remembers, sticking around for a little while and then deciding to go to the lake, that also very possible as well right and i was also thinking maybe the girls went outside and started like playing and then she visibly saw them at like so maybe they went outside at 11 30 and then she last visibly saw them around noon because when you look at their the articles a lot of the times it says like, oh, she last saw them riding their bikes at like noon or 1215. So that would make sense because that security camera that picked them up, it's like right around the corner from her house. So you would think that they would be just leaving at that point.

But we also know from the security camera footage that they were driving in the opposite direction, that they would have been going if they were headed to Lake Myers so something happened that caused them to turn around but it doesn't look like they turned around in that same location or on that same street because then that security camera would have picked them up going and going the other way so there's a lot of people who believe these girls maybe never made it to Myers Lake and maybe their bikes were left there as sort of like a red herring. Although you do have one witness who claims he saw them driving by his house, which was kind of close to Myers Lake. So we're going to talk about that in a minute. Although I do have to be honest, I think that that witness is probably incorrect, which does make it possible

that they never were at Myers Lake. But once again, there's a lot going on with this case, so we're going to get there. Drew Collins, Elizabeth's father, he had left work that afternoon and he made a quick stop at an auto shop to check out the progress on a paint job they were doing on his 1979 Trans Am. and he remained there at the auto shop for about an hour. Then he drove the short distance home. He said when he got home, his wife Heather was not there yet, and Wilma told him that the girls were out on a bike ride. And then Heather came home, his wife, and she was immediately worried that Lyric and Elizabeth hadn't returned from their bike ride yet. Reportedly, Heather had called 10 minutes prior

and said she was on her way home and she had told Wilma to round the girls up. Drew said, Wilma did say that it was around 1230 when she got worried about the girls and she started driving around town looking for them. But after an hour when she didn't see them, she returned home. And once again, in my opinion, if that timeline is correct, it doesn't really make sense because Lyric and Elizabeth were seen right around the corner at 1215 on surveillance. They're little girls with short legs on bikes. And I mean, how far could they have gotten in that 15 minutes? Because she even said in that interview, we even came over around here, around this way, suggesting Myers Lake because that's where she was when she gave the interview.

So if they were still riding around at 1230, you'd think that Wilma would have seen them. Like I said, Evansdale is not a big town, just about four miles in area. And so I guess we would have to assume that between 1215 when they were seen on the surveillance camera and 1230 when Wilma started driving around looking for them, something had already happened to them. They'd already been snatched up. Yeah, if Wilma's time's correct, right? That's what we're hinging this on because again, that's all you have. And even if she's off by 15 minutes, even if she didn't leave till quarter

one, that's a long time. So you could potentially have a 15 minute window, but you could also have a half hour window and a lot can happen. So if she wrong even again by like 10 or 15 minutes that would create an opportunity for them to maybe go a different route to still get to the lake but i agree with your your hypothesis as far as like hey if we're to believe her time for whatever reason she she knows she left at 12 30 very small window so potentially you're looking at a situation where almost immediately after the girls are seen on camera, whatever happened to them, whoever they encountered was right after that, which is terrible to think about that that was only moments before they were taken. Kind of like somebody was lying in wait for them, expecting them to come by a little bit.

Possible. Definitely possible. It's also possible. We just, again, we talked about Athena Strand tonight. I didn't know where this case was going, but the world is, anybody is a suspect. It could be the postman. It could be the delivery driver. It could be the garbage man. It could be anybody. Anybody's fair game. You just never know. So I also read a transcript of a CNN interview with Grandma Wilma where she said that neither of the girls had a watch on and Elizabeth did have a cell phone, but it wasn't activated. She just used it for playing games. A man named Ted Gamerdinger claims that he saw Elizabeth and Lyric's bikes around 1230 in the afternoon while he was riding his own bike, something he often did on that trail, the Evansdale Trail.

He said the bikes were abandoned in the same spot they would later be found, and he had to swerve around them on the path. But another man named Robert Carpenter, who lived a few blocks away from Myers Lake, he claims that he saw Lyric and Elizabeth ride by his house, which was on the corner of Lake and Gilbert, while he was out watering his lawn sometime between noon and 3 p.m. And he said he didn't think anything of it at the time, but when he heard they went missing, he called the police. He said, quote, the girls rode their bikes right by my house. We see them practically all the time ride their bikes right past our house, but they

come down and turn around in the street, end quote. So it does seem that law enforcement sort of dismissed this sighting because it didn't, like with the Heyman Lee case, it could have been a different day. If he sees them drive by his house on their bikes all the time, he could have been thinking of a different day, or he could have even been seeing different little girls riding their bikes. But it does make me wonder, you know, maybe they weren't always staying so close to home. If he was referring to Lyric and Elizabeth that he sees all the time, maybe they kind of did make a habit of not staying within earshot of Grandma Wilma when she was watching them at Elizabeth's house.

Yeah, I think that's a safe assumption just because that's normal kids. To go back to what Gamer Dinger said, is that, am I saying his name right? Gamer Dinger. I will tell you that statement and that is very compelling because as a biker himself, and I think anyone who's walked a trail before, ran a trail before,

it's not often that you see bikers leave their bikes behind just randomly on a trail because they're high probability for some theft. So usually when you see a bike, the biker's not far behind the bike because of, you know, unless they're locking them up. So I think what he remembered as far as them being in the trail, kind of just on the ground and him having to go around them, that is probably more accurate. And I do think it lines up with what we now know about them only being about a mile and a half away from from the lake in the first place it's very possible that we see them on camera at 12 15

and unfortunately we don't have another angle of them but they may have taken an alternate route to get to the lake and whatever happens to them happens around that 1230. Let's even say, because he might've been off by a few minutes, let's say 1230 to 1245. He drives by and sees those bikes in the trail themselves. So I don't think it's hard to believe that maybe there was a different route that we didn't see where the girls knew it and they went that way to get to the lake. And maybe they figured, hey, we'll go there quick and then we'll come back and then gamer dinger sees their bikes so that would tell us very small window we're looking between let's say 12 15 and 12 45 where this where this potentially went down it doesn't mean that they made it to the lake it could still mean what you said earlier

where uh during their travels they encounter someone, ice cream drop guy, someone like that, where like you said, they're abducted and then their bikes are taken and dumped at the lake to make it look like that's where they were last seen. So I think what you were saying earlier still holds some truth that they could have been abducted before they ever got to the lake and the bikes were dumped there to throw off law enforcement. Honestly, that's what I feel like happened because nobody remembers seeing the girls at the lake, just their bikes, right? Well, think about this. It's a public area. What risk does the abductor, the offender run by attacking these girls on the trail? Someone could ride by like a gamer dinger at any second. So I, on the surface, I tend to agree with you. I'm a gamer dinger at any second so i i on the surface i tend to agree with you i'm a gamer

dinger it's a funny it's a funny name somebody could run by like a gamer dinger yeah like a gamer dinger this will be on a t-shirt um but it could be something where any cyclist or runner or just just somebody hanging out in the area uh could see what's happening or hear what's happening. So on the surface, a little bit more than halfway through this episode, I would tend to agree with you if I was forced to give a guess that it probably happened somewhere in between where we saw them on camera last at 1215 and the lake. But that is such a short time still, right? That's still like about 15, 20 minutes that they're seen on camera right around the corner from Elizabeth's house. And then their bikes are abandoned by Myers Lake.

It's a very short, short time period for that to happen. But, I mean, I guess that is exactly when these things would happen in a split second. It's not. Only takes a second. Yeah. And I did see when I was looking at the Google Maps, remember when I put the bike route in there was a shorter route. So I think I said by the trail, it would take eight minutes. But if they took I think it was Collins Road, it would only be six minutes. So they could have taken that that other route to the lake. And that's why they were going in the opposite direction, because maybe they were headed to that shorter route, which they'd have to know it was a shorter route. And I wonder if they did this sort of, you know, often, maybe they kind of, like we said, rode out of their normal bounds a little bit more than we've been led to believe. Yeah, it could be a shorter route. I also,

from personal experience, we would take certain trails because it had like maybe a cool hill on it or something that you kind of rode. Whatever the reason may be, you, you have your kind of process and where you're exploring what spots you want to hit before you head back home. And that could have been one of them where they're like, Hey, let's hit that trail before we head home. And for all we know, there was someone else on that trail that we just don't know about because it's not a public area. There's no cameras over there. How do you know there's not somebody over there for a different reason? Maybe they're riding an ATV or something. They see these two little girls by themselves and they decide to act on that.

I was even thinking, because remember, Elizabeth's father, Drew, said when he first found out they're missing, he was like, oh, I bet you they just, you know, went to somebody's house that Elizabeth knew and then got to talking and lost track of time. So I wonder if Elizabeth had a friend who was kind of in that area, like maybe on the way to Myers Lake and they weren't headed to Myers Lake and that's why they were going in the opposite direction. And that's when they got cut off before they could make it to that friend's house. And that's really the fact that they're going in an opposite direction. it doesn't make sense. I don't know why they would go to the lake, but it seems more like maybe they would go to a friend of Elizabeth's house,

and that's when they got grabbed and picked up. And then once again, the bikes were just left at the lake to make it look like that's where they had gone. Because as we know, because I've already sort of alluded to this, their bodies are not found near Myers Lake. They're found much further away. So it's kind of like a red herring, like look over here and spend a lot of time focused on this Lake Myers area, which we'll find out they did, while I'm over here doing what I need to do and you're not even looking anywhere close to where I am. Yeah, I think it's easy to say, oh, well, the bikes were found there. They must have been on their way there, right? That's the simple explanation. But I think you're probably right where it was a red herring. It was to throw people off. It was a decoy maybe, or it was just a

spot where the offender didn't see anybody around. So they figured that was the spot to dump the bikes. They obviously are not going to dump them close to where they live or where they reside or where they're bringing the children. So I think that's very plausible. Yeah. Cause the parents even said like, we don't know why they'd go to Myers Lake. You know, we swim in a lake, but we swim in a different lake because Myers Lake has a swimming band. So, you know, when we go swimming in a lake, we're at a different lake. You know, we don't really often spend a lot of time in Myers Lake. We're not sure why they would be headed that way. So it does make sense. And real quick, I know we mentioned Delphi in the beginning, but regardless of the direction

this goes, whenever there's two victims, it always raises my senses a little bit that there was possibly a gun or a knife involved. And I said this with Delphi. I'll say it again here. When you have two young kids, there is a potential that one of them was grabbed and the other one didn't want to leave them behind, which is just heartbreaking to think about. But I think more so than not, it's a situation where the offender, if they're by themselves, it could be multiple offenders. But if they're by themselves, they're using a weapon to intimidate them and to control them and to keep them in line so that even though they may want to run, they don't feel that they can get away fast enough without that person utilizing that weapon to hurt them. So whenever I hear two victims and they're young, but they're on bikes,

so could one of them get away? Probably, but there's a reason they didn't. And that's always where my head goes initially. Yeah. Well, authorities in this case are going to make a big show of saying like stranger abductions are very rare. What's even more rare is a double abduction. Like this is even more rare. This is not common. So and obviously we understand why it's going to be harder for one person to subdue and control two people, even if they are little girls. Because like you said, one could run away and then identify this person. That's right.

It's a big risk for the offender. So there's something that that person has where they feel that they can control the situation or threaten them in a way that they're actually going to freeze up and not try to make a move and do something that could throw his or her plans off. Yeah, and according to Misty Morrissey, since she'd been working all that week,

Lyric and Elizabeth had spent the past five days playing at the Collins home and they'd been out playing and riding bikes every single day. And in my opinion, this does show the opportunity for one, an unknowingly false eyewitness statement from Robert Carpenter, but also it shows a pattern that had been established by these two girls that someone could have been watching and making note of. Maybe someone was watching them ride their bikes every day and this person knew what routes they usually took. And I mean, it isn't clear what routes they usually took because we really only have the assurances of the family members that Elizabeth and Lyric never went far. But once again, we don't know what that means objectively. Like, what does Grandma Wilma

think is far? Probably not the same as what I think is far, because for me, far is the end of my driveway. For Grandma Wilma, it could mean something completely different. And in one interview, Grandma Wilma did mention that the girls would stay in a two-block area. But once again, we aren't sure, you know, what that means necessarily, or like, even if that was true, not that she lied about it, but, but that the girls were going outside of that two block area and just not, you know, communicating that. Yeah. And I know we have a lot more to cover, but I just, I just think it's so important to

keep reiterating it because it's important and we want to prevent these from happening in the future. And I would just ask our listeners or our viewers, whatever you're doing, how many cases have you heard about or how many cases have we talked about where the abduction occurred in the presence of an adult? It's very rare. I'm sure it has happened, but we haven't discussed one. I'm sure there's some where there's a force used, but there's usually more to that story when that happens. There's a couple actually that I ran into even in this case, because there was a, there was actually a bunch of like attempted abductions in this area.

Trying to grab them quick. Around this time. Yeah. Where like a father would be kind of following behind and, and the kid would be like up, you know, further riding their bike. And then somebody would pull over, maybe not realizing the father was with the kid. And then the father would start waving his arms and they'd like, you know, pull off. But yeah, as soon as they realize an adult's there, they're out. They're not, those are not the victims they're picking. They're picking the ones that are alone and vulnerable. Yeah. So just again, just to drive home that point, it's terrible that we have to be these messengers, but keep your kids in line of sight. I know that sucks for them. They

want to always, we know what kids do. We're both parents. We know they want to always push the boundaries. Oh, let me just go around the block one time. No, simple. No, not if I'm not going with you. It's that simple. Not until you're 18. Sorry. You know what I mean? It's just, we hear the stories every day. You have to start listening to them. I mean, it's unfortunate. I have a 21 year old daughter. I'm not letting her go out and ride her bike alone. No. I mean, yeah, it's when, when is enough, right? In this society, in the world we live in now, but especially when they're kids like this and they're, they're going to be unable to defend themselves against a grown adult. It's just the way it is. So if they're not able to defend themselves physically against an attacker, then they shouldn't be left alone. You have to be there. I know it's tough as parents. We have other obligations, things we need to do as parents,

but you don't want to find yourself in this situation. So if you take anything from these episodes, it's to remember, you got to keep an eye on them. And when I say that, because I've had situations like this happen, I won't name the people, but they're like, yeah, I'm watching them. And then I see on camera or something from my house where they're on their phone or they're on a laptop and the kids are down the road. That's not watching them. So we, I've had arguments over that, uh, where it's like, no, that I don't consider that watching them because the example you just gave, if you're looking down at your phone or you're, or you're on the computer or you're playing with the dog and the offender doesn't know that you're there for them, they can grab them. And by the time you look up, it's too late. So yeah, if you're

watching them, I mean, eyes on them in, in range where you can yell or scream or run over to them. If you do see something that you don't like, and you know, it's, it's, that's, that's part of being a parent. It's part of being a supervisor. If you're watching those kids, whether they're yours or someone else, that's the range you have to be in at all times. Dude, no lie. Every year when I go to the Renaissance Festival, I encounter an unaccompanied child who got separated from their parents.

And I mean like a young child every year. It's like they find me and then I have to take them by the hand and lead them around until I find their parents. And I don't even hand them over to a worker because half of these workers are dressed like, you know, Renaissance people. And I'm like, are you a worker? I don't know. So I got to find their parents. And then I have to have the parents prove that this is your kid. So like, show me your phone. I need to see pictures of you because it's a Renaissance fair. You just grab a kid, walk out. Nobody's checking. It's not it's not

like that. But every single year. And that's because there's alcohol involved, by the way, because people get that mead in them and their little pints and then the kids go wandering off so like it's just so so dangerous and scary i think y'all all are weird for going to the renaissance fair but you know dressing up weirdos would have so much fun okay you would tell them guys tell them how much fun you would have in the comments renaissance festival we need derrick to go pictures oh my god you would have so much fun we'll get you We need Derek to go. Oh, my God. You would have so much fun. We'll get you your own little beer mug and we'll engrave your name in it. Hilarious.

Adorable. Nope. So I want you to pull up the map I sent you, and it's going to be in that video. All right. So on this map, the yellow house that I'm pointing at here, that's Elizabeth Collins' house. And then if you go all the way down this next address right here, which is on the corner of Gilbert, that's Robert Carpenter's house. And then over here, that's Lake Myers. So would you say that Elizabeth Collins' house was within a two block radius of Robert Carpenter's house? No, it's a little bit outside that, but it does look from this map like Robert Carpenter's house was on the way to the lake in a little bit, not a direct route, but still in the general direction of the lake.

So it is possible that he did see them. But to the point you're trying to make, no, if he had seen them consistently, that is more than an earshot away from Elizabeth's house. No doubt about it. But are we surprised by that? No, of course not. No. All right, we'll take our last break and then we'll be right back. Okay. So Elizabeth and Lyric were reported missing at around 2.48 p.m. and just under an hour later at around 3.30, their bikes were found near a trail at the edge of the southern eastern corner of Myers Lake. Elizabeth's purse and cell phone were found about 20 feet away, thrown over the fence that separates the trail from the lake.

Obviously, finding the bikes so close to the lake led some to believe initially that maybe the girls had abandoned their bikes on the trail and possibly gone into the lake for a swim even though there was a swimming ban in lake myers and then unfortunately they had drowned the parents of both girls were insistent from the start that they didn't believe this had happened especially since there were no clothes or shoes found with the other items you know they said if they were going to go swimming, they definitely would have taken off their shoes and their socks and, you know, maybe even like their shorts or something, but they wouldn't have just left the bikes and gone in fully clothed with their shoes on. Even Rick Abin, who was the Blackhawk County Sheriff, he admitted that the bikes and the purse and the cell phone had been recovered, but that just meant that those things had been there.

It didn't mean the girls had been there. Even so, just to be sure, the authorities decided to drain the man-made lake, a process that would take roughly three days, and it would begin the following Monday. But in the meantime, hundreds of volunteers helped to search wooded areas near the lake, and a plane with infrared sensors searched from above, while a sonar boat cut slowly through the water. Groups of searchers went through cornfields and timber fields, searching 12 square miles in and around the northeastern Iowa community, and police began stopping vehicles at intersections near Myers Lake and elsewhere, documenting names and license plates and searching through trunks and truck beds. All searches produced no additional evidence as to where Lyric and Elizabeth were. Law enforcement contacted nearby sex offenders

to get their alibis for Friday afternoon. Reportedly, they spoke to and cleared 10 registered sex offenders who had addresses in Evansdale, and they interviewed to and cleared 10 registered sex offenders who had addresses in Evansdale, and they interviewed family and friends. On Tuesday, July 17, FBI spokesperson Sandy Breault claimed that the agency was working to get photos of the missing girls on billboards and websites, and they were also sending out trained scent dogs. The following day, it was reported that the FBI dogs had picked up the scents of Elizabeth and Lyric near the area where their bikes had been found, leading Sandy Brealt to claim this indicated a strong possibility that the girls had been there, but because there had

been no confirmed sightings of the girls at the lake, they could not be certain. Brealt would not specify where the scent was or where it led from, but she did say, quote, the scent did lead to the water, which is also where their bikes were found, end quote. Am I wrong in thinking that it could have been Elizabeth's purse or cell phone or the bikes themselves that had the scent of the girls on them and that the dogs could have picked up the scents of the girls from those items and the girls could have picked up the sense of the girls from those items and the girls didn't necessarily have to be there in order for the dogs to pick up their sense because their personal items were there? Yeah, it's definitely possible. We've talked about

dogs in the past and how good they really are. It's dependent on the owners and their training and their success rates in the past. Not all dogs, even when trained well, are good. It's just like athletes, right? They can all train really hard, but just some are naturally better than others. There's no different with dogs. I will say like we could speculate all day long, but it could be a situation where if we're to assume that they were on the bike trail, right? We keep talking about if they weren't, but they were on the bike trail at some point and the offender jumps out of wherever they might make a run for it and he's able to get a hold of them or they are able to get a hold of them, grab them as they're running towards the lake or whatever and bring them back to the van or wherever they're going. That's also possible. Everything's fair

game at this point. What the scents mean, it's open to interpretation. But the dogs could be getting the scent from their items, right? It doesn't necessarily mean that they, I mean, the people themselves were there because their items that they touched and that they held, especially that purse that belonged to Elizabeth, which I assume was soft, could have been really holding that scent in the same way that a piece of clothing could because the dogs get the scent from an article of clothing. So they could have picked up that scent from something else. Absolutely, it could also be wind, right?

The way the wind is blowing that day, their scent is blowing that direction. It might have the dog follow that scent that's in the air, just down to the lake. I would have to be there and see the indicators. How strong of an indicator were the dogs giving at that point where they were confident that it was in fact leading towards the

lake but i i do think what you're saying is is is plausible i also think the scenario i laid out is plausible overall i don't they drain the lake and i know that you've you're going to tell us where the bodies were found and they weren't found in the lake so i do think it's more suggestive that the dogs were maybe wrong or they were picking up on something in the area and not necessarily the girls walking down to the lake, although can't rule it out completely that they maybe tried to get away from whoever they was, who was after them. And that's why the scent kind of trailed off towards the lake itself. Yeah. Cause I mean, they wouldn't really, they haven't released anything about, about the, what the dogs picked up, you know, it's simply like simply like, oh, and we can't say exactly where

the trail led, but we can say this and it's just very, very vague. But yeah, you're right. By July 19th, the draining of Myers Lake had stopped and this allowed the divers easier access to the deeper pockets of the lake that could not be drained. And at this point, authorities said they were almost 100% sure that Lyric and Elizabeth were not in the lake, but the only way to be 100% sure was to cover all of their bases and check the entire lake. Rick Abin would not speak specifically about any evidence found, but he did say that the police had no reason to suspect foul play and that everyone was a suspect until they found something that said

otherwise. Law enforcement searched the home of Grandma, you know, Wilma Cook, where Misty and Lyric had been reportedly living. A few computers were taken into custody as part of the investigation, including a computer from Wilma's house, as well as a laptop which belonged to Elizabeth's 12-year-old brother, Kelly, who Elizabeth had actually been very close to. From the very first moments, Misty and Dan Morrissey were insisting that there was no way their daughter Lyric would go and swim in the lake, and they believed she had been abducted, and this confidence, along with their now well-known criminal history, put the spotlight of suspicion on Lyric's parents. Tammy Brousseau,

who was Misty and Heather's sister and the aunt to both Lyric and Elizabeth, she felt that all signs pointed to a stranger abduction, specifically a pedophile, who had abducted the girls from the area near the lake where their bikes were found. She said she had just taught Lyric the previous week how to save someone if they went limp in the water, and she taught both girls what to do if someone tried to abduct them, which was drop to the ground and fight. Lyric's father, Dan Morrissey, said, The area where the bikes were found is fenced on both sides, and it is right where the maintenance gate is. It is a spot that looks to me like a trap.

Somebody could have just come along right then or followed them down. It would have been the worst spot to be in right there. End quote. By July 19th, tensions were rising between the family and law enforcement. Grandma Wilma Cook expressed frustration that so much time had been spent looking at Myers Lake when they had always insisted there was no way the girls had drowned in the lake. Both Elizabeth and Lyric had above average swimming abilities, and once again, they would have taken their shoes and socks off before going in, and

none of their clothes had been found. Newspapers began to print the criminal background of Dan and Misty Morrissey, and of specific interest was the fact that after Misty had pleaded guilty to her part in a meth ring, she had initially been sentenced to four and a half years, but her sentence had been reduced after she provided unspecified assistance to the government, which obviously led people to wonder if Misty had started naming names, and maybe there was someone out there who wanted to teach her a lesson. Even after Misty was released from prison, she was later arrested after a series of problems, including inability to follow the rules, excessive use of alcohol, use of illegal drugs, and association with persons involved in criminal activity between the years of 2009 and 2011.

Like I had said earlier, Misty had just been released from a halfway house the previous May, just two months before her daughter vanished. Now, after cooperating fully with the investigation for a week, it was reported by Tammy Brousseau that Misty and Dan were no longer going to cooperate because of, quote, aggressive questioning from the police. And Brousseau claimed that they had made the decision to stop talking to the media and to the police based on advice from an attorney. It looked as if the police had initially set up base at Poinier Middle School, where they had been interviewing multiple family members, including Misty and Dan, but not just Misty and Dan. And at one point, both Misty and

Dan stormed out of their interviews. And of course, the press were waiting outside to sort of like attack them on their way out. And they were like, what's going on? What's going on? Why are you guys leaving? And Dan said no comment. But Misty said, quote, they have no information. They have no idea about anything, end quote. Now, obviously, we're going to wonder, like, were the police being aggressive during this questioning or were they just asking the normal types of questions? And it does seem like Misty and Dan and Tammy Brousseau are kind of the only people who allege that the cops were doing anything like out of the ordinary. Later, Heather Collins even said, like, I don't

understand what her problem was. They were just asking the normal questions they would ask if your kid was going missing. You know, like, yes, are they going to, you know, probe you about where you were and see if you knew anything? Yes, that's their job. That's what they have to do. And you just have to tolerate it if you want your kid to come back home. But they seem to get very, very defensive. And even the police later were like, we don't know what happened and why they got so upset. We never accused them of anything. We never came out and said, you did this, but they behaved as if we had done and said

those things. Yeah, I see both sides to it. As a former detective, you got to ask those questions, right? Because as you just said, they don't't know what happened or they have to do their job However, as a father I could see how if I know I didn't do it, right? And I'm hoping that I need the cops out on the road I need you guys finding my daughter as fast as possible Right if you're sitting there asking me questions about my whereabouts and I know in Internally that I didn't do anything wrong. I'm like, what the fuck are you doing? Get out there and find my kid, you know,

but they don't know that they're not mind readers. So I understand the frustration and the reason they say that when they walk out, it's like, they don't know anything. Cause if they're asking us where we were, that just goes to tell, and we know we're not the people. Well, then that just means they have no clue what happened to our kids. So we're, we're, we're basically at square one right now, because they're looking at us as potential suspects. So that clearly means they're not on the right trail. They're, they're just, and that's, I can see how that would be extremely frustrating. And I, I hope I'm never in that situation, but I'd probably give them, I'd answer a few questions, but then I'd probably react the same way.

No, I feel like you probably would understand considering you'd been on the other side of it before, but somebody who's never been on the other side of it, their initial reaction is to get defensive because you don't think like, I'm just part of the questioning process. You might think, why is all this focus on me? Why do they think I did it? They're looking in the wrong place and you're wasting precious time right now. So I can see it, but I could also see how you would be guilty and you would storm out of an interview and be defensive, right? That's true. That's true. Yeah. You might be like, ah, I don't want to answer too much here because I might end up giving myself up. Yeah, I definitely see it.

I can see how that behavior would be perceived as possibly suspicious. Yeah. Could be perceived a bunch of different ways. But if you say didn't want to keep talking and catch yourself up, you might just be like, I'm done with this. I can't believe and just, you know, act outraged and storm out because that's going to be your best bet for not just saying too much and, you know, getting in trouble. And it wouldn't be the first time where we have adults say, yeah, they were out riding bikes. And then we find out later that it wasn't in fact, the parents responsible and they were just throwing law enforcement off. So it's not a complete first time we'd ever hear about a case like this. So yeah, police have to

do, they have to dot all their I's and cross all their T's. Yeah, I just covered a case like that. I think it was in Iowa where the mother said he went out to ride his bike and then the police later found the bike at the house. And, you know, yeah. According to the Des Moines Register, quote, Morrissey has denied having anything to do with the disappearances of the girls, despite accusations from law enforcement this week that he is involved," family members have said. He stormed out of an interview with authorities Tuesday, family members have said. FBI agents on Wednesday night again interrogated Morrissey about his involvement in the girls'

disappearances, Brousseau said. Agents started beating at the door of a hotel room the family had checked into in an attempt to get some rest. They have accused Morrissey. They said they have evidence, Brousseau said. Well, we all know if that was the truth, they'd already have Dan locked up, end quote. It's really weird because once again, the police never named him as a suspect. They never named him as a person of interest. And they even said, like, we don't we're not really quite sure what what they're talking about. You know, we we didn't accuse him of anything. So I'm not sure if this is once again just a defense mechanism on behalf of the family

or if they're being hyperbolic for some some reason. I'm not sure. Exaggerating. I don't know. But it may have just felt like they were accusing him, but I don't believe they ever came out and accused him. At least they claim they didn't. Yeah. And I will say from my own experience, there have been times where I didn't know who it was and I get the dad in there and I look at him and I make it seem like I'm 100% confident. I look at him and said, you did this. You did it.

I know you did it. I don't know how you did it, but I know you did it. My question to you is why, right? Like I'm, I'm going into a hundred percent and I had one case where it worked. My entire career was a child molestation case. Every other time they look at me, like I have five fucking heads and they should, because I had no clue if it was them or not, but you at least come into it with that approach. So do I think it's possible that they did that? And now they're saying, no, absolutely. think it's possible that they did that and now they're saying no you know absolutely it's definitely possible that they pulled that line and due to optics they didn't you know they didn't want to say it publicly but i would not be surprised if we found out that yeah

they did approach him and go hey listen we know you did it was it an accident when he's like what the what are you talking about so i as bad as Dan's reputation may be in the past, it's absolutely possible that they came at him based on his past and said, you did this, you know where they are. It was one of you, you or your buddies, somebody's involved, you know more than you're telling us. And that's when he maybe got up and stormed out. So it could have been an interrogation technique is what you're saying. A hundred percent. Yeah. And that's fine because we've seen this, right?

I mean, if we've watched movies, we see that they do this and, you know, or Law and Order, Elliot Stabler always be going into that interview room, slamming down on the table. And he's like, I know you did this. Just tell me and I'll go easy on you. I'll help. I'll get you a deal, you know? And it is like when you're at your wits end and the clock's ticking down like yeah i completely support that you do whatever it takes and like you said it worked once okay so yeah doesn't doesn't work a lot but what's the worst that can happen you know you miss 100 of

the shots you don't take well the worst is happening the family closes you out yeah that could happen but also like i have to wonder too if there was an extra level of paranoia for the Morrissey's considering their past history. And they may be like, everyone's looking at him like, you're the reason we're here right now because you guys weren't watching your fucking kids. And so I'm sure there was a lot of judgment being placed on them, not only because of the current situation, but also their past decisions. And a strained dynamic with law enforcement right off the bat. You don't go into that with like, oh, they're here to help. As far as you're concerned, the cops are not there to help. They're there to catch you up and get you in trouble. So it was also revealed through court records that Dan Morrissey had appeared in court for a change of plea hearing one day before his daughter and

her cousin had vanished. And in that case, he'd been arrested alongside a man named Jason Stolfus. And Jason's lawyer claimed that the police reports would show that Morrissey had implicated Stolfus, and Jason's lawyer claimed that the police reports would show that Morrissey had implicated Stolfus in different crimes after they had both been arrested in December. However, Stolfus's lawyer also claimed that his client would have no motive to kidnap the girls as he'd been offered a favorable plea deal, which meant he had a chance of avoiding prison. On July 22nd, FBI spokesperson Sandy Breault claimed that authorities felt strongly that Elizabeth and Lyric had not been killed, that they were still alive, but she refused to say what had led them to that conclusion.

Now, at this point, all of the parents had agreed to undergo polygraph exams, but Misty had announced that she would not be taking another one due to what she referred to as her harsh interrogation and her outrage at being accused of having something to do with her daughter and her niece disappearing. Apparently, this decision made by Misty once again caused suspicion to fall on her, not just from the direction of law enforcement or the public, but from some of her own family members. Her sister, Tammy Brousseau, said, quote, because Misty did not want to do the second polygraph test at the advice of her attorney, because she did not want to be coerced and cornered and told that she did

this, there was a little bit of separation. Some of the family members felt, okay, she's not cooperating 100%, end quote. When Misty did finally agree to take the second polygraph test, she claimed she was only doing this so she could put to rest the claim that she had not been cooperating 100 percent. Sheriff Captain Rick Abin admitted that the investigators were examining every aspect of the Morrissey's criminal histories simply so that they didn't overlook any possible leads, but he also said multiple times that they were not suspects. Misty also agreed to do the test on the condition that one family member be present with her in the room, and strangely enough, in my opinion, she chose her estranged husband and her abuser, Dan Morrissey, who also took a second polygraph

test. Additionally, the police obtained a judge's order requiring Dan Morrissey, who also took a second polygraph test. Additionally, the police obtained a judge's order requiring Dan Morrissey to submit to supervision by parole agents while he was waiting for his trial on charges of making and dealing meth, charges that could end up with him being sentenced to up to 90 years in prison. Now, I guess the question would be, did Misty and Dan pass their polygraph exams? We're not sure, but Misty took her second polygraph exam on July 24th, 2012, and she told the media that she had responded no when asked if she knew anything about Lyric and Elizabeth's disappearance. According to Misty, her first test had come back inconclusive, but she'd been told that she passed

the second one. She also claimed she had an anxiety disorder, which may have led to the exam results of the first polygraph. Now, law enforcement never actually confirmed any of this as they do. They never confirm or deny, but Rick Abin declined to speak about the polygraph results during a press conference. However, he did say they were getting better cooperation from Misty and Dan. By the end of July, law enforcement had reclassified the case as an abduction after not finding the girls in Myers Lake or really anywhere else. But officials announced that they were 100% committed to the case and that they would be until new leads stopped

coming in. At the beginning of August, the FBI released information that they would be until new leads stopped coming in. At the beginning of August, the FBI released information that they were looking for a man in a white van who may have been connected to the disappearances of Elizabeth and Lyric. But this man later came forward after he saw a picture of himself getting cast on the television and he spoke to the police who, you know, cleared him. And the police announced that this man was not considered a suspect. In mid-August, Misty Morrissey was taken to Allen Hospital after she was found unresponsive at the home of a relative. Her family told the police that she'd already been at the hospital earlier that day. She'd been drinking a lot and she was also heavily medicated. Yeah, I'm glad you're putting this stuff in there because it's not, I know you're not doing it to knock Misty, but it's important to put people in

the mindset of, of Misty at the time this occurred, because we're seeing things more recently. Obviously a lot of time has passed where the parents may be better now than they were back then. But to, to hear this information gives you a little bit of insight behind the curtain of all you know they are parents they are potentially victims in this case as well but they're they're clearly not in the right state of mind if these are the things that are happening after their children have potentially been abducted so we got to give you the full context and we we're not doing it to cast you know a dark cloud on them facts are the facts. We're not just making them up. So I'm glad we're putting it out there because it does tell you how rough of a place they were in.

And if they were doing a little bit better, this definitely didn't help that, where they're coping by going back to the things they would use to cope in the past. I mean, I think that it actually doesn't look bad for her because clearly she was distraught, right? By something. Yeah, that's another way to look at it, that maybe she's doing it now because of it. Yeah, it's also a potential, we don't know. But either way, you can judge it however you want, but that is what it is.

I mean, if you look at it, let's say you're an alcoholic or a drug addict, you're, it's like the old mantra, but it is truly day by day, right? So you have to constantly just focus on one day at a time and you have to constantly focus on like keeping your control. And when something like this happens, you often see a backslide. You often see a relapse because you're devastated and you don't want to feel anything. I imagine if this happened to me, I would be drunk all the time.

I would never want to feel anything. I would never want to be aware of what was happening. So you could look at it either way. She's wrecked with guilt, so she tries to disconnect, or she's completely devastated at the loss of her child and still wrecked by guilt, right? Because any parent's going to feel guilty when this happens, whether you were directly responsible or not. And so she's self-medicating. But either way, she's clearly distraught. So during that same press conference where Rick Abbott announced that Misty and Dan Morrissey were being more cooperative, he was also asked about the statement that FBI spokesperson Sandra Briel had made about Lyric and Elizabeth still being alive because Briel had seemed so confident about this belief, but she said she couldn't say why police believed it. And Rick Abbott responded, quote, we certainly would like to think that. We have nothing to indicate that they are not. We want to keep our hopes up, end quote. When Brealt herself was questioned about the assertion that Lyric and Elizabeth were still alive, she continued to assert that belief and

said of law enforcement, quote, they are not going to reveal the reasons why. You wouldn't want them to do that. It would jeopardize the investigation and the children, end quote. David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, he said he believed the claim that the girls were still alive could possibly mean the investigators could have some important evidence. Finkelhor also said that he felt it made sense to look into the possible connection between the disappearance of Lyric and Elizabeth and the drug charges of Dan and Misty Morrissey, as well as Dan's pending charges, because in other cases, children have been kidnapped by rivals out of retaliation or held hostage to prevent incriminating testimony.

David Finkelhorst said, quote, if they do think the dynamics are primarily around the drug cases, investigators might be more likely to think the girls are alive. They lose their value if they have been murdered, end quote. However, by September, officials were distancing themselves from the statement of FBI spokesperson Sandra Briel. And honestly, to this day, we have no idea why she said that the police believed Lyric and Elizabeth were still alive or what possible information law enforcement could have had to tell her this or to allow her to say that, to give the community and the family so much false hope. And it does kind of remind me of what's going on right now with the University of Idaho students and how within the first days of these four kids being stabbed to death in their off-campus home,

the police were announcing, like, there's no danger to the public, everything's fine. This was a targeted attack, no one's in danger, even though they had not yet made an arrest or even identified a suspect. And I was, you know, talking about this on my channel, because if you hear this as a member of the public, if you hear the police say that, you're going to think, listen, law enforcement must have something that gives them the confidence to say these kinds of things, you know, but sometimes the police will make these confident statements and then backpedal later, such

as in the University of Idaho case, because everybody was up in a tizzy and they're like, how can you say that we're not in danger? And without, you know, having a suspect in custody, how do you know we're not in danger? And, you know, they'll backpedal and go back from that. And in the case of Elizabeth and Lyric, that's kind of what happened, too, because they were saying, oh, yeah, we within the first two or three days, that child is no longer alive. That's the majority of the cases. It's very rare that you'll see somebody take a child and keep them alive. You know, like, oh, I just wanted a child for my own and I'm going to kidnap a child and take care of them. That is definitely the exception and not the rule.

Typically, these children are being taken for much more nefarious reasons, and then they're killed within the first 72 hours. Yeah, that is more than likely the case. I'm not defending law enforcement here. I do think there's some element of it where they're looking at what they do have. They have the bikes, they have the cell phone, the purse, and they're looking at what they do have they have the bikes they have the cell phone the purse and they're thinking there's no sign of injury here so we're not going to say that we believe they're dead when there's nothing to indicate that they were they were fatally wounded before being taken so the lack of evidence suggesting that they're hopeful should they be saying that publicly i guess it's in the eyes of who you look

at. I agree with you. I probably wouldn't say it, but they might be looking at it from the perspective of, hey, we want to keep people's hopes up. We want to keep people optimistic. Again, not something that we agree with, but maybe that's the conversation behind closed doors that's happening. Same thing with the Idaho case. i've been seeing that a lot too where you know the community doesn't have anything to be fearful of i think that's coming from again purely just guessing here but they're probably looking at it like this was a targeted attack this person was not some serial killer who's going around brutally you know stabbing people for any reason i think they feel like this attack was personal.

So whoever did this is now not doing it anymore because they accomplished whatever they wanted. But again, that's a guess. And it's a guess because they don't have the person in custody. So how could they know? So you're really sticking your neck out making a comment like that, because although it may look like this was a targeted attack and that this was something that was one or two people that were it was intended for and ended Up being for because of the situation But that this person may not do it again They don't know that for certain so I would personally if I'm the chief of police

I'm erring on the side of the caution and telling people to be on the lookout and to be aware of the situation But I know politics get into it too where they don't want to have this uproar. And then you also think about the college and how it's going to affect enrollment and tuition. These are all things, faith hedge path. I've always thought that had something to do with that case with the university of North Carolina and how it would infect enrollment and the prestige of the school. That's just my opinion, but I've always felt like that could play into something like this. So that may be some things that we don't hear about publicly that are going on in locked conference rooms. Doesn't make it right. Just saying it's possible. A hundred percent. I think that had something to do with the university of Idaho. I think that

they were like, who's going to send their kid here if they think people are just being stabbed to death on campus. And I mean, facts. What's the soundbite right now? The dad saying I sent my kid to school and she came back in a box. Yeah, that's what people are going to remember. Exactly. But I mean, you don't know if people are actually safe and have nothing to be concerned about. So you shouldn't be saying that because people are supposed to be able to trust what you say. And in this case, with these two girls, I'm going over the reasons why they would say it, because where's the political motivation there? There really is none.

And like, yeah, you wanna give people hope, but I mean, we're months after these, it's not like a couple of days. They were saying this in like August and stuff. When a kid's been missing that long, I feel like the only reason you would say that is because you have some evidence that this was not a stranger abduction,

and this was a family abduction, and it was because of some like custody thing or this this or that like that's the only reason that you would you would be able to to say that so confidently and if you're going to be so tight-lipped about everything else why say that at all just don't say anything because it doesn't make sense why two kids kidnapped by a stranger would still be alive a month after they're gone. It's not plausible. I agree with you. I know that there's a lot of pressure to make public statements and it sometimes frustrates people when law enforcement is quiet, but I do agree. I would rather stay silent, not give false hope, not say something that could come back to bite me later. I know that people don't like that normally, especially people directly involved,

but that would be my approach. Not saying it's right, but that's the way I would handle the situation. I still wish I knew what made them say that. Like they had to, because they've really so little about these two kids. Because we see that- This case is unsolved, right? Or is it solved? Yeah, it's unsolved.

Okay. So the fact that it's unsolved, they may have thought something at the time, but clearly it didn't work out. Yeah. And I wonder if they were suspecting Misty and Dan. And that's why they said that, because if you got other kids around and this is a stranger out there abducting, like you might want to say that, right? You might want to be like, well, we don't exactly know what happened. So just keep a close eye on your kids, you know, period. Yeah. You might want to be like, we don't exactly know what happened, so just keep a close eye on your kids, you know, period. On November 13th, 2012, four months to the day after Elizabeth and Lyric had ridden away on their bikes and never returned home, Heather and Drew Collins, along with Misty and Dan Morrissey, wrote an open letter to their daughters abductors. To whom it may concern, we would use your name, but we don't know who you are.

Or maybe we do. Maybe you are someone who knows the girls. Maybe you are someone who just acted on impulse. Maybe you planned to take them. We don't know because we don't know who you are. But we can sort of imagine that you must not have had the things you needed to grow up feeling safe and loved. Because only someone who hurts inside would hurt another person in their family. We've all heard the saying, hurt people hurt people. We believe that is true. We are sorry for whatever happened to you when you were growing up. Certainly, all children do not receive all the

love and care they deserve. Some are even abused by those who are supposed to have taken care of them. When that happens, it is very wrong. Taking our girls from us has caused so much pain, pain for them, pain for us and our families. Since the time you took them, maybe you? I've wondered more than a few times, how could you ever make it right? How to be a hero, not a monster? Things probably look pretty hopeless for a good outcome. We want you to know that we are praying for you to do the right thing. By releasing the girls, everyone wins, even you, the person who took them. Imagine how it would feel to have everyone remember that you were the one person in all the missing children cases, the one person

who cared enough to let the girls go. You will not be remembered as the one who took the girls, but as the one who let them come home. Our lives have not been the same since July 13th. Please let our girls come home to us. Do the right thing. Be a hero. Sincerely, Drew and Heather Collins, Dan and Misty Morrissey-Cook. But there would be no hero in this story. Elizabeth and Lyric would not be coming home.

On Wednesday, December 5th, 2012, a group of hunters in Seven Bridges Nature Park stumbled upon two decomposing bodies. The remains were sent to the state crime lab for official identification, but officials seemed to fear that the bodies belonged to the missing Evandale girls, even though Seven Bridges Park was 50 miles away from where their bikes were found by Lake Myers. Rick Abin said, quote, we had no other missing people and the bodies were small in stature, end quote. It would soon be confirmed that these were the remains of cousins Lyric and Elizabeth, but what exactly had happened to them would be kept very, very quiet. And that

is where we will pick up next time. Unfortunate. I could see that this was where this one was going. It's as expected. The question now becomes, and maybe you're going to shed some light on this in part two now that they found the bodies obviously they're decomposing depends on the condition of the bodies how much they're able to tell as far as time of death does it appear based on the conditions of their bodies that they had been there all along and it just took a while for them to be located seven bridges nature park we just mentioned that in passing. Where were they found in that park? Was it off the beaten path where it would have taken a while to locate them, which could

have contributed to it? But I do think it's significant that their bikes were found at one location. Their bodies were found at another. Could mean they were abducted from the park. It could also mean that they were never there so uh hate these cases but i do think they're uh a necessary evil for what we do in the true crime community because it's not we're not here yes we know there's a form of entertainment with it but it's to inform to educate and to better prepare you for it and the only way i think that most humans respond

and make changes is when they're they're scared of and make changes is when they're scared of the result, right? When they're scared of what could happen if they don't. So by instilling a little bit of fear in you, maybe it prevents this from happening to you or someone you care about. And based on that, it's worth covering these cases as terrible as they are to talk about. Absolutely. And they are terrible to talk about, but there are theories and we will go into those because to be honest, I'm not sold on the fact that this was anybody or anything connected to Lyric's parents. That is a popular theory. That is something that a lot of people bring up, but I'm not completely sold on it. So we're gonna discuss a lot more theories

that are out there. And I think some of them probably have a little bit more substance than the one we just discussed. And we will dig a little bit deeper into that angle as well. So until next time, tell them where they can follow us on social media. You can follow us on a Crime Weekly pod. You can also follow our coffee company,

which is Drink Criminal Coffee on Instagram and Drink Criminal on Twitter. You definitely want to check those out right now. Depending when this is released, there's a Christmas giveaway going on right now with Criminal Coffee where all you basically have to do is follow it, tag two friends, and you could win a free bag of coffee. And as always, if you're not familiar with that, we donate a portion of the proceeds to open cases that we're looking into. and we will have an update on Preble Penny, hopefully by the new year. So yeah, as always follow us there, keep up with what we're doing, stay safe out there and we will see you next week. Bye.