Police Chief Cindy Carson has been with the Rockville Police Department for twelve years. She worked her way up from animal control, patrol officer, detective, sergeant, and finally Police Chief. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University. Town Council appointed her as Chief after the previous Chief retired three years ago. Both Walker and Sergeant Thomas had competed with her for the position, but Carson had displayed leadership skills throughout her time on the department and basically handled most of the previous Chief’s duties during his last year in office. She was also well known and liked in the Rockville community. While both Walker and Thomas were disappointed, they have come to appreciate how Chief Carson has handled the position. She provides direction but allows her employees to do their jobs.
Chief Carson walks into the crime scene and is taken aback by what she sees. Sure, she’s seen dead bodies before, but to see such a young victim dead in the woods from an obvious act of violence is disturbing. This does not happen in Rockville, she thinks. And, she knows this girl, Wendy Spire.
“What do we have Steve?” she asks.
“Best I can tell is she was strangled, probably sometime last night based on the condition of the body. It looks like she might have been dragged through this brush, probably to hide the body.”
“I know this girl,” says Carson. “She is Wendy Spire, the daughter of Joe and Becky Spire over on Worster Drive. Her parents were involved in the neighborhood watch program I facilitated when I was in patrol. They are such a good family; this is going to destroy them.”
“Do you want me to have someone sent over to tell them?” asks Baker.
“No, not yet. Let’s get the body out of here and then I will go over and tell them myself. I certainly don’t want them trying to show up here.”
“Okay,” states Baker. “I’ve got the Coroner on the way. Once we process what we can here, I will have him take the body for further processing and an autopsy.”
“The press already knows something is up,” advises Chief Carson. “I’ve gotten two calls from the town paper already, and once this gets out, I’m sure we’ll have reporters from Grand Rapids here in no time. This could get nasty. Would you like me to call the State Patrol and ask for some assistance?”
“Let’s see what we find here and what the autopsy tells us, then decide,” states Baker.
Within about 15 minutes, County Coroner Wilson Kolanski arrives on the scene. Walker meets him as he is walking toward the crime scene and fills him in on what they’ve got and what they currently know. He then walks Kolanski into the crime scene. Once there, Kolanski and Baker examine the body for any obvious evidentiary items, such as foreign fibers, hairs, blood, etc. Baker knows that any premature moving of the body could destroy such evidence. After not finding anything obvious, they decide to move the body, put it in a body bag, and load it on a gurney to take to the county hospital where the autopsy will be performed. Baker then collects samples of surrounding soil and plant material.
“Don!” shouts Sergeant Thomas, “I think we found something.”
Walker strides over to Thomas to see that he is holding a wide band gold ring with a flattened area on top. Engraved in the top of the ring are the initials A.L.
“Not sure if this is related, but we found it in the grass along the bike path,” says Thomas. “We took a photo and marked the location it was found.”
“Good find,” responds Walker, “let’s hope this is important.”
“Who reported finding the body?” asks Baker.
“A student by the name of Sarah Williams,” answers Thomas. “She was walking to school this morning along the path and something white caught her eye through the trees. She looked closer and thought it was just a coat. When she walked toward the creek, she recognized it was more than a coat. It appeared to be a dead person. She immediately ran to the school and told the Principle, Mr. Jenkins. He thought she had to be mistaken, so he went out to check himself. Once he saw the body, he immediately called us. It will all be in my report”
“Anyone touch anything?” asks Baker.
“They both said no.”
Prior to leaving the crime scene, Walker tells Sergeant Thomas to maintain control of the scene for now and assign a couple of officers to start asking students in the area if they know anything at all.
“Got it covered,” says Thomas. “I’ll see you back at the station later.”
Back at the station, Detectives Walker and Baker start to go over what they have. Photos are loaded into the computer and they start to examine and document the evidence collected. Looking at the photos, Baker points out the drag marks in the brush, leaves, and soil, indicating Wendy Spire was dragged at least part way through the brush to her final resting place. He then carefully examines the contents of the purse and pulls out the cell phone. The contents of the phone will need to be downloaded by a computer forensics expert. The County Sheriff’s Department has a computer specialist who can help with that.
News of the dead body has now been spread throughout the high school and the media has started to show up to ask questions. Given the police activity and disruption being caused in the school, Mr. Jenkins decides to cancel school for both Thursday and Friday.
At 11:45 am, Chief Carson arrives back at the PD to meet with Walker and Baker. She tells them she has notified the parents and as expected they are devastated by the news. Both parents are inconsolable. Wendy’s dad, Joe Spire, advised Carson that Wendy was supposed to be meeting a male friend named Aaron
