True Crime with Kimbyr - Young Mom Goes Missing - Clues Found In A Phone Call

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

In this episode, Kimbyrleigha delves into the heartbreaking story of a young Florida mother who was abducted from her home on a sunny day, leaving behind her two small boys. The incident shakes the core of a seemingly safe suburban life. Kimbyrleigha analyzes the systemic negligence that failed to protect her, exploring the critical gaps in emergency response processes. Join Kimbyrleigha as she scrutinizes the procedural failures in this chilling case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Florida, it seems like paradise too many. It can be an escape to a place where every day seems sunny, lined with beautiful beaches, warm blue water, bikini-clad beauties, amusement parks like Disney World, and popular destinations like South Beach. But I'm sure most of you know there's another side of Florida, especially someone like me, a native Floridian. I know the secrets that Florida holds. Some of the worst cases that I've heard about happened in Florida.

In today's case is just another one to add to that list. I've always wondered what it is about Florida that makes it such a perfect breeding ground for killers. Or do they flock there for some reason? I know I used to be told it's because it's a transient area. There are strangers that pass through or because there's warm weather. And I'm thinking, why does warm weather invite killers to a beautiful state like Florida? People who have lived in Florida know the truth about it because it's unavoidable to hear about cases every single day. But so many unsuspecting tourists or those looking for a better life decide on Florida

because of the great weather, even though they probably aren't aware, it rains almost every day after the sun shines down. But a lot of us know better. There's a dark reality to Florida. It's the second largest state when it comes to how many murderers they have on death row. Coming in second only to my current hometown, California. It's estimated that it takes 13 years for someone on death row to be killed. I can tell you this. Being a cop in Florida is a very hard job. It's a very dangerous job. And officers choose to do it and put their life on the line every single day. And one of those officers in Florida is Rick Gough. Rick seemed to be fearless. It was like he was made to be a cop. Rick was a tough cop. One that probably would not even wait for backup and would just handle things themselves.

Criminals in town that became regular offenders, they knew Rick real well. Rick worked in narcotics when he first started. Not only did he do this job well, but he loved his job. He ended up becoming an undercover officer and he helped track down the worst of the worst. This job offered him a glimpse into some of the most evil monsters that walk not only Florida streets, but this planet. And to do this job successfully, he had to blend in with them to become one of them and gain their trust. Without a doubt, it's scary. Even if you gain these criminals trust, they can turn on to you.

you at any moment, especially if they find out that you're an undercover cop. There's one big reason Rick wouldn't want that to happen. And it's not just because he wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire. It's because he had a beautiful family that he wanted to protect. Rick has three children with his wife Sue, Tyler, Amanda, and Denise. Even though he's strong and fearless on the job, he's different when it comes to his home life. He tends to be more of a helicopter parent paranoid that at any moment someone could rush through his door to take revenge. Rick and Sue made their home in Englewood, Florida. This is where they had their three children. Their first child was Denise Amber Gough. She was born August 6, 1986. A few years later, after Denise was born, they had Tyler and Amanda. Creating a

family gave Rick four more human lives to worry about besides his own. He knew what human beings were capable of. It's hard for any parent, especially when your children start growing up and having lives of their own. You want so badly, and I know this firsthand, to protect your children. We can't always be there every minute to make sure they're okay. His children grew up in a seaside community on Florida Central Coast, and they lived the good life, the American dream, a beautiful family, a good paying job, safe neighborhood in the gorgeous sunny state of Florida. Rick remembers when his first child was born. He remembers dropping Denise off at daycare and us as he was as a cop, it was really hard letting her go.

He even broke down and cried. This happens to parents. They could be really selfish before having children, and then all of a sudden there's this extension of them that they want to protect no matter what. It's so hard for us to give that control to someone else. And knowing all that he knew about the streets, Rick was terrified for his daughter.

But he knew he had to let her go and grow into being her own person and grew she did into a stable, well-liked, smart, talented high schooler. She played the flute in high school band, and she was beautiful. She had dirty blonde hair and these beautiful blue-green eyes and a very lovely sweet smile. Denise Amber Goff dreamed about becoming a wife and a mom, having a family and a man that she loved, taking care of her children. That was one of her biggest dreams.

Denise was very studious in high school. She was the shy, quiet type. She would just put her head down and study. She also had this natural beauty about her. It was like she wasn't fully aware that she was beautiful. She was slim and athletic, five, two, and about 110 pounds. She wasn't just beautiful on the outside. She was beautiful on the inside as well. She was sweet and kind and generous. During her senior year of high school, Denise started taking classes at a community college nearby. That's when she bumped into Nathan Lee. Nathan was three years older. He was popular. He was good looking. He was the of the baseball team. And as they say, opposites do attract. Denise was the one who started

their very first conversation. She knew she had to get up the nerve to talk to him or else she would miss her chance. And they end up hitting it off. Nate was very surprised that Denise had made the first move, but he was glad that she did. They just clicked. They were meant to be. They were soulmates. The thing is, they met right before Valentine's Day. And their first date was on January 19th. So it's an awkward time to start a relationship. You have this new person in your life. You don't know what's appropriate. You know, do you take him on a date?

Do you get him a gift? Nate decided to buy Denise, an inexpensive but very cute, heart-shaped ring. And it had little gemstone in the middle. Though he only spent about $40, it became very special to Denise. She actually never took it off. Denise graduated from high school in 2005, and the couple decided to move to Tampa so she could attend college. But then they found out. that she was pregnant and it wasn't planned but they were extremely happy. Nate ends up

proposing to Denise and they get married. Denise was 19 and Nate was 21. Now Rick was a bit worried, even a little bit disappointed that his daughter wasn't going to go to college but she was an adult. As hard as it was he had to let go. Denise looked absolutely beautiful at her wedding. Everyone could tell that the couple was truly in love. Denise Amber Gough was now Denise Amber Lee. Even when Denise was given her beautiful new wedding ring, she still wore that special heart-shaped ring than Nate had given her on their very first Valentine's Day. Now the young couple were not able to afford their own place, so they did move in with Denise's parents, Rick and Sue, until they could find a place of their own in their budget. Little did they know.

In just two years' time, the Lees would have two little boys of their own, Noah and Adam, only a year apart. They had created their own beautiful little family. Not having a lot of money wasn't that much of a big deal to them because they knew if they worked hard, everything would work out. And Nate was working hard. He was working three jobs at the time to take care of them and save for their future. They always kept their eye out for a place of their own to rent and they wanted a house and they wanted it to be close enough to their parents to be in touch, but far enough away that it felt like they had their own lives. Finally, they had an opportunity to rent the perfect house at a great price that would be manageable for Nate. It was nice. It was brand new. It was a three-bedroom two-bath home in a city

called Northport in Sarasota County, Florida. Northport, Florida. Have you heard that before? It might sound familiar to some of you, especially if you keep up with true crime cases, specifically the Gabby Petito case. Northport is where Brian Laundrie's parents' house was located where reporters were camping outside. Northport police was the department that was investigating the crime from Florida, the police department that worked with the FBI to investigate the swamp for Brian. That's Northport, Florida. That was a town. Denise's dad didn't exactly want her to move, and it's not a bad area or anything like that. But back in 2008, the real estate bubble had burst. Subdivisions, like the one this house was in, was only half finished.

The project was abandoned. And that was due to the market crash. So therefore, these houses, they were scattered all over the neighborhood. There would be a house and then a plot of empty land, yards with nothing in it, weeds just growing there, and the neighboring houses weren't exactly close to one another. However, the house that the leaves were looking at did have one house next to it. So they wouldn't be completely alone on their street. Still, Rick was worried. Since that area was not built up, he considered it pretty rural. He thought it was, way too far off the beaten path that was in the middle of nowhere, but that's precisely why they could afford it. I am going to show you additional pictures in just a few minutes to provide more details about how it looked and all of its characteristics.

The Lees move in to their new home at 7912 Latorre Avenue and Northport. Rick was happy for Denise. He just wished that she had gone a little bit slower in deciding to start a family and living separate from her parents. Rick didn't have the best feeling about all of it. He might have been right because just after they moved in, the Lee family experienced their first run-in with a criminal. Nate's car, which was parked in their driveway, got broken into, and valuables were taken. Rick couldn't help but have that, I told you so, attitude. But of course, it made him even more worried about his daughter and her growing family.

Denise would typically spend the day alone with the boys while Nate was at work. He found a full-time, good-paying, steady job with Florida power and light as an electric meter reader. Nate had to leave for work really early in the morning before the break of dawn while his family was still asleep. It's kind of a good thing because the earlier he got to work, the earlier he would get out. He would normally leave work around 3 p.m. Their house was only a 25-minute drive, so he was usually home before 4 o'clock. And that gave him plenty of time to enjoy his family. The more and more time the leaves spent at their new home, the more they loved it.

They actually liked that there weren't a lot of people living nearby. It felt safer to them. And you could be as loud as you wanted. No one was complaining. It actually does sound nice to only have one neighbor, only one household, that could possibly cause problems. Most of us know how stressful it can be when you're living close to an annoying neighbor. But on the other hand, having only one neighbor meant there was only one neighbor. meant there was only one person who could help if something went wrong and something was going to go

wrong for this family. Something you never think is going to happen to your family. Something that seems unbelievable. A story that you think has to be made up, but the frightening thing is the story is real. A normal day for Denise was playing with the children, teaching them things like potty training, taking them on little outings, maybe to the grocery store or the library. There was actually a MySpace post from Denise that she created about what a day in her life was like with two little boys as a young mom. I want to read this to you because it'll give you an idea of the way she thought plus the way that she was feeling just five months before everything changed. It was on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007. She wrote, The joy of having two boys. Today, I thought it might be fun to take

the boys to the mall by myself. It started off really well. well. Noah and I ate lunch in the food court while Adam slept. I let Noah go on one of those rides that cost 75 cents. Then we went to Old Navy. Noah started getting a little hyper and would not stay with me. So I had to hold him and push the stroller at the same time. At the checkout, both of them started crying. Adam was hungry. So we went back to the car where I fed Adam because he was breastfeeding. And Noah played in the car rolling the windows up and down. Finally, we went back in the mall and I'd let Noah play in the play area so I could get a chance to just sit down. Noah was knocked down twice by older boys running around wild and of course then Adam needed a

diaper change and I couldn't take my eyes off Noah or else he'd run out of the play area. So I put both of them on the changing table and changed both of their diapers. Fun fun. We went to J.C. Penny and I was trying on sunglasses when Noah tried to run away. So I had to carry Noah while trying on sunglasses and then Nathan called. Both of the boys start crying at once. So I put Noah down and I picked up Adam. Noah thought it would be funny to run away again. So I caught him while I was holding Adam and put Noah in the stroller.

An old man even commented that I had my hands full and he said he checked in the bottom of the basket to make sure I didn't have a third one. L.O.L. Can you imagine if I had three? So I finally bought my sunglasses and we went home. Something so simple as going to the first. the mall to buy new sunglasses is 1,000 times harder when you have two boys under two. But it was so fun. Anytime I get to leave the house, it's a treat for me. So there you have it.

You see how much Denise loved her boys. It was a hard job, but she did it with patience and pride. When it was sunny and bright, Denise and the boys got to enjoy their backyard or the nearby parks a lot. January 17, 2008 started like any other day for the Lee family. left the house early before Denise had even gotten up. When she did, Denise did her everyday routine with the boys. However, something different was going to happen that day. It was normal for Nate and Denise to speak periodically throughout their day. They

would update each other on what they were doing, keep in touch until Nate got home, and he would usually call her around his lunch break, which was no different on January 17th. Nate spoke to Denise at 11.09 a.m. They only talked for about five minutes. Considering that Nate worked for the electric company, they were always trying to cut down on their electric bill. So on this call, he just reminds Denise to open all the windows so that the breeze could come in because it was such a beautiful day. They really didn't want to run the air conditioning and she kind of knew that routine. So she told Nate she had already done it. Then she explained that she was going to go take the boys outside because it was gorgeous.

And she was even going to give them a haircut on their lanai. It was super hot the day before and it wasn't comfortable to be outside. so they stayed inside running the AC all day. When it's nice and breezy like it was that day, the fresh air felt really good circulating throughout the house. Now I'm going to show you all the windows in a moment. I just want to point out that the fact Denise had a cop for her father, she was well aware of her surroundings.

She knew how to take care of herself, how to stay protected, to be leery of people that you come in contact with. She was smart. But even knowing all of that, there are some situations that we can never expect to happen that we can't plan for and we certainly can't control. Her dad had taught her from a young age to think like a cop. She would listen intensely to her dad's advice, the stories he told her about the monsters who walk our streets. Being well aware of these things does come in handy. One step further, she learned all about evidence and DNA and forensics. She actually

enjoyed watching shows about true crime. She knew if she did find herself an unfortunate situation, there are ways to make it easier for authorities to help you, to find you, to solve the case. I'm sure that we have those things in mind right now. Worst case scenario, scratch the assailant or leave something unique behind. Because if you do go missing or something happens to you, there will be evidence underneath your fingernails or a trail for cops to follow. As morbid as that may sound, in those last moments, it is a clue. It is something that you can do to help solve your case.

and we hear about that. Another thing we learned from a very young age is to call 911. We're taught as a child to call for help as soon as we think there's a problem. Denise was brought up to trust law enforcement to know that they were going to be there to help. We put so much faith into law enforcement and the processes and procedures that have been set in place to save our lives. By the time 2008 rolled around, her father was now a detective and he had been in law enforcement. for 25 years in Charlotte County, which is the county that neighbored Northport. Now I told you, I'd show you pictures of a Lee's home. It was located at 7912 Latour Avenue. There's just one single home next to theirs, and then there's just trees on that side,

hiding the rest of the road from view. They lived on the end of the street where the road curved, and as you can see, you come around the bend here, and here's the Lee's house, there's the Lanai, and it's what most people would refer to as a patio or a porch. It's screened in and there's a nice size backyard. Possibly later, they would have had it fenced in because it would be kind of scary having kids or your pets outside with the road so close. But at this time, with this subdivision being so empty,

cars hardly came down this way. And in the lanai was where Denise would cut the boy's hair out on this patio. So she could easily sweep or vacuum it up and she wouldn't have to worry that it would get into their carpet. If a car did come around that bend, you can see right into the screen patio. They could see Denise and the kids, especially if they were going slowly around this curve.

Normally looking at this lot, it would be great, something that has a lot of space in the backyard and even on the side. If you come down Lator Avenue here, you can see this long driveway up to their garage and then there's a sidewalk to their front door as well as the windows on the front of the house. There are three that we can see.

But as you come into the driveway, you can clearly see the windows, which are going to be of significance. And that's why I'm mentioning it. They had this one neighbor with a house that looks pretty similar, almost the same as theirs. Other than that, there's no one close by. This is what the area looked like in 2011. I was able to get a glimpse inside the home from May 18, 2008, which was pretty significant to me. This is the same year, just a few months after January 17th. Who knows if this was their furniture, I am not sure.

But on the inside, you can see this small kitchen. And you can actually see right out this sliding door to the lanai from the living room. There's a tiny kitchenette dining area with two windows. There's also what looks like a bedroom as you pass through the living room as well as another bedroom right off the kitchen. The inside of the Lee's house was like many parents with small children. There were a mixture of sippy cups and toys on the floor and laundry that needed to be. done. Sounds like what my room looks like right now, minus the Sippy Cup. Now that I've gone into detail about where things unfolded, I want to discuss who all the characters are, the people that will

become involved in this story so that you get a good idea of who they are, where they came from, and what their mindset was like. It's very important to me to look at things from everyone's perspective so that it comes together to paint an entire picture with as much clarity as possible. That's the best when you're trying to analyze cases like this one. You see this house to the left of the Lee's house if you're facing it? The only neighbor. Someone who could see the comings and goings. It's important to talk about who lives in this house and who was there on January 17th.

Inside was a teenage girl named Jennifer Eckhart. She didn't live there. But for the past month, she'd been staying with relatives who owned that home. She was from New York and she was visiting her boyfriend who also lived. in Northport. The afternoon of January 17th, she was watching TV and waiting for her boyfriend to come over. This was around the same time Denise was cutting the boy's hair in the lanai. Denise had realized the boys needed a trim and she decided to do it herself. One, she wanted to save money and two, because she could handle the boys better than a stranger. It was also Noah's very first time getting

his haircut and Denise wanted to remember that moment because it was a milestone. Of course I'm going to introduce you to more people, but now that I've given you a good perspective on Nate and Denise, where they lived and who their neighbors were, I want to go into the day that everything changed and their entire life was turned upside down. For reasons, we will probably never understand. That day, she was cutting Noah's hair out on the Lanai, and she was trying to go as fast as she could because she knew it was only a matter of time before he wanted to get out of the high chair and run around. It's sad to think if she had just gotten inside a little bit sooner, what happened next might not have happened at all. Something caught her eye on the street. She could hear it before

she could see it because the subdivision was so empty. You could hear the echo of a car engine before it even showed up around the bend. It was around 2.15 p.m. She noticed a green car coming around the curve. That wouldn't be that unusual, but remember not a lot of people lived in this area. Plus, when you're living somewhere, you sort of know who comes and goes. You recognize cars and you recognize people. She also knew there was someone visiting next door. She was well aware of Jennifer, so for all she knew, Jennifer could have a friend coming over, and she actually was waiting for her boyfriend that day.

It wouldn't have seemed that suspicious at first. However, she noticed that the car came by more than once. For a minute, she may have even thought it could be Nate coming home early, because he also drove the same color car, but his was a Dodge, and this was a Chevy Camaro. But when she first spotted the car, it may not have been apparent. Jennifer spotted the green car as well. She was sitting on the couch and she was watching TV and she got up and looked out the blinds to see if that was her boyfriend because she heard it too.

It wasn't. When it came around one more time, she wondered if they were lost. She was thinking maybe they can't find their way out of the subdivision and she was wondering if she should go out there and help them. On the front of the car, she noticed that it had one of those black bras. It's a material that you tie onto the hood and it protects it from getting hit by a whole bunch of flies. If you haven't lived in Florida, it's actually pretty well known that love bugs, that's what they call them. They get almost glued to the front of your car as they die when you're going fast on the highway at a high speed.

They're really hard to clean off, so that's why people protect their front bumper. Jennifer just took a mental note because it's not something she was used to seeing Beckett. in New York. She noticed the car had driven by probably four times. She told herself, if they drive by again, I'm definitely going to go out there and figure out what's going on. The last time it came around, it was going really slow. She decided to stick to her plan. She walked outside to attempt to speak to them. That's when the car pulls into Denise's driveway. At this point, she thought, okay, this is someone that's clearly looking for Denise's house and they found it. Then she thought, wait, that could be my boyfriend in a different car.

Like it could be getting dropped off. So she looked over and she could see the driver's seat. It was facing her. And she could clearly see the driver from her vantage point and she realized, okay, that's not my boyfriend. He was much older, maybe in around his late 30s. He had a beard and blonde-looking hair. All of a sudden, he looks over at her. He catches her gaze and it was weird.

Not because he was scary looking or ugly or anything like that. it was just the way that he looked over. It made her feel very uncomfortable. She quickly just turned her head and she just went back inside and locked the door. A few minutes later, she returned to the window to look for her boyfriend again. She noticed that the guy was sitting in his car. He hadn't gotten out. He was just sitting there.

Considering that Jennifer wasn't a resident of this area, she had no idea what kind of cars came up and down the street. There wasn't a reason for her to think that this would be suspicious. but sometimes we have a gut feeling and I think that's what Jennifer was experiencing in that moment. About 15 minutes later, she looks outside once again because she hears the car start. This time she saw the green car pulling out of Denise's driveway and leaving down the road past the house she was in. He drove right past her on Latour Avenue and as she's looking at the car, she doesn't notice

anyone else in the car but him. She didn't think anything of it. The driver of the car was Michael Lee King. I wouldn't exactly say he was lost in the neighborhood, but he was definitely lost on his path in life. He was struggling. He had just lost his job, and he was in the middle of looking for another one. Michael wasn't a bad guy, but he didn't have a perfect childhood. He wouldn't necessarily have said that he had a bad one either, but something that stood out from

his childhood was what happened to him when he was only six. Michael grew up in Michigan and everyone called him Mikey. He was a super cute little boy. Him and his siblings were playing in the snow in Michigan one winter. He was on a sled being pulled by a snowmobile that his brother was driving. Mikey was supposed to let go so he could go down the hill, but instead he kept holding onto the rope. And then the most horrible thing happened.

He flew right off the sled at a very high speed and his head slammed right into a pole. Everyone thought he was dead. They were screaming, they were crying, and they were rushing towards him, and all they saw was the dark red blood in the snow. They rushed him inside and his head was already starting to swell and there were no signs of life coming from him at that time. They were in such shock about what had just happened. They probably didn't even notice whether he was breathing. They rushed him right to the hospital and luckily they were able to save his life. However, Mikey, did change after that. Unfortunately by the time he made it to the first grade, he was classified as learning impaired. It was very hard for him to make friends or do well in school. So he became withdrawn. By the time he was in high school, he realized it was too much for him to handle. He dropped out so he could attend a trade school and he was on track to become a plumber. Now despite any stigma that surrounds plumbers, they make a pretty good salary, believe it or not. And even though he was a bit

slow, so to speak, he was a really good plumber. He landed a full-time, high-paying apprentice job at a well-known plumbing company, and his career advanced from there. Mike even met a woman named Danielle, and they fell in love. They got married and had a son together who they named Matthew, but they would affectionately call Maddie. Unfortunately, they had problems, which led to divorce and Mike and his son moved to Florida in 2002 so they could be closer to Mike's family. Mike loved his son so much. He noticed that Maddie was a very bright, good student with a lot of friends. Mike knew that his son would do very well and be way better off than himself. A lot of times Mike would actually ask Maddie for help, understanding things, whether it was

reading big words or doing a math problem that would help him to rebuild something. for his plumbing business. Something else that was different about Mike than most people was that he was a pathological liar. But not for the reasons you might have heard before. Mike didn't know how to keep up with other people. So a lot of times, he resorted to lying so that he felt like he was like everybody else. I mean, he would lie about the weirdest things, though. For example, he told people that he was a stripper. That's kind of interesting. Or he would lie about being friends with celebrities like kid rock. Might not even know who that is, but that was a big celebrity back then, I guess. He'd even lie about taking trips to California when he had never even been there before.

The lies would change depending upon what crowd he was with. The lies might have made him feel better, but to the people around him, they knew better than to think that any of these things were even possible. But like many pathological liars, sometimes he would believe his lies. Or he would even lie about lying. But unlike a lot of of I would say professional pathological liars. Mike was not a good liar. You would think he would be because he started lying when he was just a little boy. Everyone close to him knew this. They would just put up with it because it was part of his personality. I know a lot of children that play make believe. They'll make up stories about imaginary friends or things that haven't really happened.

And that's because they're dreamers. However, at some point in life as an adult, it's not really acceptable anymore. What was once classified as innocent now seems really deceitful. It's a terrible character trait. People do not want to be around someone they can't trust. One of his family members, a cousin named Harold, was on the receiving end of a lot of Mike's lies. He would witness Mike trying to impress his friends by talking about how much money he had or the cool cars that he owned, like a big truck that no one would ever see because it was conveniently always in the shop. When his lies would start to catch up to him, he would create more lies. He would say, I crashed the truck or it got stolen. But when I say he lied about things, he actually wasn't lying about having money. He wasn't

lying about having a good job. He did have enough money to buy some luxury items. That was true. That was his thing. Buying material possessions and also getting girls. Going out trying to find women was probably one of Mike's biggest hobbies. Him and his wingman, John, they used to do this all the time together. Oh, and women fell for his lies, especially the younger ones, and he liked them young. Recently, he had been seeing a girl that said she was only 15 and she looked it too. Maybe that was a lie, but either way, he had a thing for younger women. And he didn't have a problem getting women. He wouldn't necessarily have long relationships. Most of them were one night stands, but there were a few women he did have relationships with

that lasted longer. Mike would want to go out so much. bad sometimes. He wouldn't even mind paying for John to come along. He just didn't want to go out alone. They would go to all kinds of places. Sometimes it was strip clubs. Other times it was just bars. But Mike had a type. Long hair, young, slim, petite, tiny, maybe about five feet, two, five feet three inches tall. And Mike was a pretty cool friend to have. He even bought John a dirt bike just to have John go with him on the weekends. But I kind of thought to my it's sort of like you're buying friendship. And once John end up tying the knot with his girlfriend, Stephanie, he didn't spend as much time with Mike anymore. And guess what? John's wife was Mike's type.

She was slim, petite, she had long dark hair, and she was younger than him and John. Mike had no problem hanging out with John and his new wife, and it didn't take long before he started telling her lies about John. He even told Stephanie that John was out cheating with another woman. So of course, she's younger, she looks up to Mike, and she starts crying on his shoulder, and he's comforting her, and this ends up turning into an affair. So now he's cheating with his best friend's wife. This didn't end well. John found out, and he put a restraining order on Mike. John and Stephanie then picked up, and they moved far away to another state. In 2008, when this story unfolds, Mike was 36 years old. He had blonde hair, which he would lighten with bleach

to get it to look this way, and big blue piercing eyes. Mike actually dressed really well, and a lot of times when he flashed around enough cash, he would get the ladies to be wrapped around his finger. Actually, a lot of the times these women would go out of their way to floor with him because he wasn't bad looking, especially because of his eyes. They were captivating. Some ladies probably couldn't care less what color eyes he had because they were attracted to fast cars, money, motorcycles, and he was the type of guy who doted on the girls with gifts and things like that. Mike loved cars. He had several. He had a Corvette, a Mustang, and a Camaro. But it wasn't just about the cars and the good times. Women also like men who have a stable job and are hard workers, and that was Mike. He was smart enough never to get

into drugs and alcohol. So when he went out, he wouldn't party with substances. He was there for one reason to meet the ladies. But deep down inside, Mike actually wanted to settle down. He missed his wife. He wished you could find someone that would be loyal and that he could get along with. He wanted to find his soulmate. It had been 10 years since his divorce. And Danielle left him for another man that she met on the internet.

So it was really tough. There was another woman finally that he fell deeply in love with. And he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. Her name is Jennifer Rob, not to be confused, with the teenager who lived next door to Denise. So I'm going to be calling Mike's girlfriend Jen. They had dated for a while, but she dumped him about two months ago after things started to go downhill for him. There was something else that was problematic. Another reason why Jen had trouble with Mike is because he was dealing with some neurological issues that were making it harder and harder for him to function normally.

He had tinnitus. and I don't know how much you know about tinnitus or if you know what it is, but people have taken their lives because of it. It's a ringing or a buzzing in your ears and it doesn't stop. It was accompanied by headaches so he would have these episodes every now and again and they were getting more and more common. They would feed off of each other's energy which would end up getting them in trouble together. I wouldn't necessarily say that Jen was to blame for Mike getting fired, but because he was spending more and more time staying up late and partying with Jen, he started to slip up at work.

When things would go wrong at work, he would lie or he would blame it on other people. But it was apparent that Mike was slipping up time and time again, and he would be given another chance. And that's because he was such a hard worker, but then it kept happening over and over again. Eventually, he was starting to become a risk for the company, so they had to let him go. Mike was depressed. He had lost who he thought was the love of his life. He had lost his job. Even his son. Someone he had been able to count on left him. Maddie was now 12 years old and he moved back to Michigan to live with his mom, Danielle. This was just that downward spiral that eventually

led Mike to drive by Denise's house on January 17th, 2008, around 2.15 p.m. And that's why I say he wasn't lost that day on Latour Avenue, but he was lost in life. That morning was like any other back at Mike's house at 3493 Sardinia Ave in Northport. His next door neighbor, Dana, saw him pulling out of his driveway, and she actually thought to herself, I hope he never comes back and you might be wondering why I know I was when I was reading the story. What had he done to this neighbor? Dana Lewis lived with her mom Oma May Bird. They were from Kentucky. About seven years ago, they decided to move to Northport and then about six months later, Mike moved in next door to them.

Oma's grandson, Austin, used to play with Mike's son, Maddie, and everything seemed to be great. One time when Danielle was visiting Mike with Maddie, she got into an argument with Dana, but they sorted it out and they came to an understanding. But during that conversation, she caught a glimpse inside Mike's world. Danielle told her that he would fly off the handle, except he wouldn't do it with his son, only with Danielle. And then she remembers that Jen was living there as well. Jen had been living there for a while. She, Mike, and Maddie were a family,

and they would do all kinds of normal things. Jen had lived there for a while, and she, Mike, and Maddie were like a family. They did normal family things together. But Dana remembers at one point, all the neighbors began competing with one another to see who had best. things and when I say all the neighbors it was basically three neighbors in this area mostly

Dana and Mike they wanted to see who had nicer cars nicer lawns I'm sure you have heard the phrase keeping up with the Joneses that that's what we're talking about at first Dana and Oma thought it was all in good fun it was just a neighborly thing that Mike was like any other neighbor there wasn't even anything to complain about there was nothing wrong with him he didn't play loud music he didn't have weirdos like walking around outside the house or anything, but something unusual happened when Dana bought a new Cadillac. It was a really nice one and she had worked hard for it. She definitely didn't purchase it to one up anyone. This is just something she wanted, but Mike did not see it that way. Before her Cadillac came

along, he had the nicest cars on the block. One day, she walks outside to get in her car and she noticed all of her tires were slashed. Not only that, there were eggs all over her car just sizzling in the Florida sun and it was tarnishing her paint. Dana suspected it was Mike. Who else would it have been? Who would do that? Who would care enough to ruin something that Dana owned? So Oma and Dana were convinced that Mike did it because he wanted to be the only one with the nice things. After this incident, he no longer even spoke to them anymore. Then something. else happened after OMA decided to have a nice in-ground pool put in, something that she had wanted to do for many years. It was some time after Mike went out and bought his own pool, it was one of

those above-ground ones. He put it up in the backyard. He invited all the kids over to enjoy it. Well, Oma finally saved up enough to get a pool of her own. And as soon as they were breaking ground and laying down the cement, Mike had to make a comment. Remember her decision. to get a pool has nothing to do with him yet he comes over and he starts telling them oh I'm going to get a pool too and it's going to be a bigger one once the pool was finished she saw him staring over as the kids were smiling and laughing and playing and carrying on they were in this fresh sparkling water having a good time and even his son mattie was over taking a swim but Mike would just stand there giving her dirty looks and finally Oma decided to

put a fence around their backyard and she did not do this because of Mike and how close his house was to hers. It was just for safety and privacy. That's all. Well, Mike believed she did it to spite him. Anytime they were swimming, he would run his lawnmower right up next to their new fence. It would spew all these wet blades of grass over the fence. It would stain the wood and all the dust and the gasoline fumes would be flying over into their yard so it was really hard to enjoy. He would also never leave his driveway in a civilized manner. This man had to burn and spin his tires every time. But the worst thing that they found was battery acid. It had been thrown all over their pool floats and all their pool supplies and it burned right through everything. They couldn't

tell for sure, whether it was him or not. But who else would it have been? Oh, he was mean to animals too, and that's not okay. They had this tiny little dog and it was out in their yard, not Mike's, and he just didn't like it. So he threatened to kill it. This made Dana very upset and she would have words with him all the time and they were not kind words. She would refer to him, her words, as a fat effer. At this point, Oma decides to get cameras and they feel. found out that he was shooting BBs at their house, breaking out lights and stuff, and they just thought he went crazy. What was frustrating was that the cops wouldn't do anything. Like in many cases we hear about, Dana just kept asking the cops, how far does this have to go before you will step in?

Does somebody have to die for you to do something? Mike had no criminal record and the cops didn't have that much evidence of anything illegal and they wouldn't even watch the videotape. These things just were not high on their list of priorities and they considered his shenanigans just innocent pranks. The cops told Dana, go over there and solve it with him. You guys are adults. Talk to him and find out what the problem is. But to her, it was well beyond that. So what was it about these neighbors that pissed him off so much?

Oma said she thought she knew. She thinks that Mike had always been into Dana and since she would not give him the the time of day, he wanted revenge. Look, we're never going to know for sure. All we know is that Dana saw him pulling out of his garage that day and just thought to herself, I wish he would go away never to return. Was her wish about to come true? You're going to find out.