The Deck Investigates - Episode 7: Means, Motive, & Opportunity

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

The investigation into Ada Haradine's disappearance takes a dramatic turn as police zero in on Terry, whose erratic behavior raises major red flags. As detectives dig in, they question how close they are to uncovering the truth—and whether Terry could hold the key to solving Ada’s disappearance once and for all.If you have any information about Ada Haradine, please contact Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP or 800-342-STOP or submit tips online at michianacrimestoppers.com. Tips can be made anonymously.You can also reach out directly to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office by calling their main line, 269-445-1560, their tip line at 800-462-9328, or online at www.ccso.info. View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/means-motive-and-opportunity/Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllcTo support Season of Justice and learn more, please visit seasonofjustice.org. The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!

Back when the investigation began, police had gotten tons of reports about suspicious vehicles in and around Ada's neighborhood, none of which ever really amounted to anything. But one of those vehicles was a white-paneled truck or van. And detectives had confirmed that at least one white truck had been parked at the Haridines hours before Ada went missing, sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. that Wednesday. That one belonged to a contractor who put insecticide on their lawn. But a jogger who lived in the same development

told police he saw a white truck at Ada's sometime between three and four p.m. That was the man that I mentioned in episode two, who wasn't sure about what day he saw it. And maybe because of that uncertainty, it seems like detectives dismissed the whole lead. But that was before they knew that Terry had owned a white van at the time, a 1979 Chevy.

And just like that, the white vehicle sighting quickly shifted from a minor detail to a top priority for police. This is Episode 7, Means, Motive, and Opportunity. Now right away, investigators ran into a big problem with Terry's white van, which was that he didn't have it anymore. One of his employees had totaled it in an accident the previous July, and the guy who bought it after Terry had traded it in sold it to someone else who quickly sold it to another person. Plus, it turns out Terry had refurbished it sometime before the accident, though it wasn't clear when. So by the time police did get their hands on it, they probably didn't have high hopes of recovering anything. And though they didn't find incriminating evidence like blood, there actually was some stuff

that belonged to Terry still in the van. Stuff like documents with his name on them, even some directions to various homes. And then there was this map that showed a cemetery with roads and arrows drawn. This map was drawn on a piece of paper that had the letterhead of a small local agricultural newspaper that his wife's family owned. And listen, I wish I could tell you more about that map because I have lots of questions about it. But what I told you is as detailed as the notes in the case file get. And there's no copy of this map included, so I'm guessing that they didn't consider

it particularly significant. But knowing that they hadn't found Ada yet, I have to wonder why. Because police had already spent a lot of time searching for her near her home, by air and land. They were hard up for any clues as to where she could be. Here's former Elkhart detective Lieutenant Tom Cutler again. There was a theory at the time that if it was a stranger abduction,

then if something happened to her, the body would be within a certain proximity to where she was taken from. Strangers don't particularly care what happens to the remains, so they tend to leave them where they leave them, and that tends to be in a predictable sort of area. If she was taken by a stranger, she should be close here somewhere." Terry obviously wasn't a stranger. So police headed 20 miles southeast from the Herodines to the land that Terry and his wife had recently bought.

It was this plot of a little over three acres off County Road 29 in a rural area, just a few minutes away from his Goshen-based shop and home. It was surrounded by woods and fields bordered by a river. When they visited, they were looking for any signs that the ground had been dug up, but they were doing that from the road because they didn't have a search warrant yet. They likely figured they didn't have enough probable cause and they didn't see that from the road because they didn't have a search warrant yet. They likely figured they didn't have enough probable cause,

and they didn't see anything from the road that would give them reason to go onto his property. Now, by this point, the rumors about Jeff not being Ed's son had finally reached Ed. But he had no idea who started them, until police started questioning him about Terry. Ed told police he didn't remember ever saying that to Terry or anyone else. But what's unclear is if investigators asked him if he personally believed it. Unfortunately, we can't discuss any of this with Ed. He passed away after a brain aneurysm in 1993. But Nina did talk to a close friend of his, a guy named Gary Adamson. Did Ed ever say that he thought Ada was having an affair?

Never, never. Not a bit. Gary also said that Ed never questioned Jeff's paternity. Neither did anyone else in the family, including Jeff himself, who's honestly the spitting image of his dad. Now, by this time, Tom Cutler had been promoted from lieutenant to chief of police, which meant that he had a lot less direct involvement in Ada's case. And he told us that throughout the missing person investigation, he never favored one theory over another.

Whether Ada had been abducted and killed or had taken off on her own, both were still on the table as far as he was concerned, which was honestly frustrating to her family. I know that they were upset with me because I kept saying, we're not sure that some crime is happening, we still think there's a possibility she may have taken off. That being said, according to police reports, by May of 1986, investigators from multiple agencies did assume that Ada had been killed, as did Ed. I think he really felt she was gone for good, that something would have turned up, she wouldn't run away on her own, she wouldn't leave the kids, she wouldn't do those kind of things.

Said it has to be something pretty traumatic. It was hard to go there with any conversation because it hurt so bad for him. And I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I wanted to ask him a lot more questions probably than I ever did. He never did think she would be back, but he was hopeful I remember that.

As for police, they wanted to know if Terry was the type of guy who could have harmed Ada. So they went about speaking with multiple profilers, including a counselor and the Michigan State Police Behavioral Science Unit. Detectives were warned that analyzing a potential homicide without a body was like trying to solve a puzzle with half of the pieces missing. But even with limited information, in the end both profilers agreed on a key point. They each believed that Terry's personality made him a strong suspect in Ada's case.

The counselor told police that Terry was probably somewhat paranoid, and if he was behind Ada's disappearance, she likely had been sexually assaulted. State police in their assessment thought Terry's anger masked deep insecurities, and that he often tried to make others feel stupid to elevate himself. They said he probably started those rumors about Ed so that he could be the center of attention. And the reason he was cordial with the FBI agent,

but not with Elkhart police, was because dealing with the FBI made him feel important. They went on to speculate that he might be sexually impotent and that he wouldn't tolerate backtalk from anyone, especially women who he viewed as inferior. If a woman asserted herself to him, he might react violently. And what's so interesting is that while Ada's personality and lifestyle made her a low-risk crime victim in general,

these profilers believed that she would be at a high risk with someone like Terry. Maybe he went over to her house and Ada said something that made him angry. Like that time she made a comment about his hearing loss, which by that point he had brought up to multiple people. Whatever happened, investigators thought it had been impulsive, not something that he planned. Ada was probably killed quickly, maybe strangled, but more than likely beaten to death.

She also might have been subdued, taken elsewhere, assaulted, and then killed, after which he disposed of her body somewhere he felt safe. Again, all of this was speculation on the part of these profilers. But as far as detectives were concerned, the bottom line was this. Terry fit the profile. A suspect synopsis of Terry read, quote, Terry is the first suspect that fits all three categories, motive, means, and opportunity, along with the reported behavior

characteristics and discrepancies in statements he has given to various persons, end quote. He even fit the loose description of the person that Ada's neighbor reportedly saw in her driveway that day. Although, in fairness, six-foot-tall white guys with a medium build doesn't exactly narrow it down. Plus, if you believe that witness, then the white van really doesn't factor in. You kind of have to go with one or the other.

But with all of this in go with one or the other. But with all of this in mind, and with the first anniversary of Ada's disappearance just around the corner, state police made a few suggestions to El Carpidi. First, put a 24-7 surveillance detail on Terry ASAP and keep it going through the anniversary. They stressed the importance of staying hidden

because if Terry noticed them, he'd probably confront them, or worse, toy with them. And they made a specific recommendation to keep an eye out for any late-night travel. Second, play to Terry's sense of superiority. Elkhart PD should act stumped in the media, claim that they had nothing to go on. Frame the situation as a missing person case rather than a homicide.

They said that strategy could make Terry believe that he'd outsmarted them, possibly even tempting him to return to Ada's burial site to reassure himself that she was actually dead. And at the same time, being at the center of a major investigation could appeal to Terry's desire for attention. But, they said, he shouldn't be questioned by local cops. Instead, they should send in the big guns from the FBI to stroke his ego. They could suggest Ada's death was an accident, maybe even her fault, which might make him open up more. If all else failed, they could ask him to take a polygraph.

If he refused and reacted violently, that would be an indication he felt threatened, making him an even stronger suspect. But they should proceed with caution on that. Without solid evidence of his guilt, a polygraph might backfire, especially if Terry had a knack for deception that might allow him to manipulate the test results. And all of this advice was predicated on one big if. If Terry was their guy. It was a delicate balance. One wrong move could undermine the entire investigation. They had nothing to lose at this point. So against that backdrop,

police, with the help from Larry Sarhat, began surveilling Terry a few days before the anniversary. At first, watching Terry wasn't the height of excitement. Most of what he did was mundane. He worked, ran errands, went to the YMCA. Once he stopped by his County Road 29 property with his family for a few minutes, where they met up with someone police described as quote-unquote dirty and unkept. But it didn't seem to be a part of his daily schedule.

And typically he'd get home in the late afternoon or early evening. Detectives knew he was in for the night once he locked the gate that separated his business from his mobile home. But here's the thing, despite the state police recommendation for round the clock surveillance,

based on the reports we have, Elkhart PD was only keeping an eye on Terry for about 18 hours a day, starting at 6 a.m. And I don't know why. Maybe they lacked the funding for continuous surveillance. But whatever the reason, it left gaps in the coverage during crucial overnight and early morning hours, even when all signs

pointed to them needing to stay. Like on Wednesday, May 7th. That night, Terry left the gate between the shop and his trailer unlocked and open for seemingly the first time since their surveillance began. It stayed unlocked and open even after the lights went out in their trailer at around 1045. But officers still closed up shop at midnight. That next morning, which by the way was the anniversary of Ada's disappearance, officers showed up to resume the surveillance. They tailed Terry as they had every day before.

But this time, things went awry. Terry seemed to suspect that someone was following him. While he was out delivering some tractors, he hit a U-turn in the middle of a highway and doubled back past the cop on his tail, looking him over carefully before heading back to work, without, by the way, dropping off any of the tractors he was hauling. And when he left with the tractors a second time, at around 10 a.m.,

he drove as slow as possible, like literally 10 miles an hour. And since there were no other cars around to blend in with, police had to stop following him for a while. But they were on him again at about 5.30 p.m. when he picked up his son from a babysitter and then went out to his land on County Road 29. He stayed for about 20 minutes before he headed home and mowed his lawn.

Then by 8.40, he was on the move again, this time alone. As one detective followed his taillights from a distance in the dark and another trailed about a mile and a half behind, Terry headed back to his new property. But he wasn't there for long. He pulled out and led them on a drive through country roads, a series of turns that formed a sort of rectangle-shaped path

covering about five miles. They didn't know what he was doing, when suddenly he stopped, turned around, drove back until he was behind them, and then turned around again, and he started following them. He then swerved in front of the detective who had been closest to him,

cutting him off and forcing him off the road. They could hardly believe it. In the chaos of the moment, they lost Terry. It wasn't until an hour and a half later that he finally returned home, parking his pickup in front of his trailer. And for the second time in a row, he left the gate open and unlocked. But the officers still didn't stay. They clocked out after he was inside. When one of the detectives briefed state police on the turn of events, it raised a giant red flag for a lieutenant with the behavioral science unit, Paul Wood.

Here's a voice actor reading part of a report from that surveillance incident. Lieutenant Wood stated that because the suspect broke his daily routine as described in earlier surveillance logs, and because he had no specific need to visit this property as it contains only a garden and an old tool shed, that this visit on the anniversary date, May 8th, at approximately 5.30 pm, is substantial. This would be the anniversary date and it's approximately 2.5 to 3 hours after the time that Mrs. Ada Herodine was reported missing. Lieutenant Wood stated that the suspect having his son who is approximately 1.5 years old

would have made the suspect feel comfort in the fact that he has not lost all his sanity. Lieutenant Wood also stated that this suspect would have buried the body as opposed to placing it into the river, which borders the north edge of his property, as he probably had respect for the remains of the victim, Ada Heredine, so therefore buried her. Lieutenant Wood feels that Terry is a very good suspect

and he will send documentation of other cases where like information has been gathered and bodies have been found subsequently by virtue of behavioral patterns established by the suspects. He went on to state he feels this information will be helpful for any search warrant which may be asked for in the future. But they never got a search warrant. Actually they didn't even get to finish tailing Terry. Because while sitting outside of Terry's place the next day, a stunning development diverted their team.

That's next in episode 8, The Calls. You can listen to that right now.