The Girl in the Leaves (11 page)

SEVENTEEN

The Girl on the Bed of Leaves

After what seemed an eternity of being locked in almost total darkness, Sarah Maynard
realized she was being rescued. It was a moment she would never forget. She recalled
later, “I heard someone come into the house, and they yelled, ‘Get down, get down!’
Then they came downstairs, and I think they kept saying, ‘I think she’s here!’ And
then a whole bunch of guys came down, and at first I thought they were bad guys. But
then I saw the helmets on them, and I knew they were saving me!”

When the shock of seeing Sarah bound and lying on a bed of leaves wore off, both Sergeant
Troy Glazier and Detective Craig Feeney proceeded to assist her. Glazier recalled,
“Once it was apparent she was not in any immediate danger, I slowed everything down
and had an officer go upstairs to get a camera before we released her from her bonds.
A minute later Feeney took photos of Sarah and how she was bound before we released
her. Other officers cleared the rest of the basement and I moved two large black trash
bags that felt like they had leaves in them from the doorway to the right of where
the female was.”

Glazier debated getting onto a ledge that seemed to lead to a crawl space but decided
against it because “there were some scuff marks in the fine dirt that appeared to
have been made by a shoe.” In other words he did not want to disturb the shoe prints
in case they were important.

“Feeney and I released the female from the rope that she was bound with,” Glazier
recounted. “I untied the knots of the yellow rope that held her hands. Feeney cut
the rope to her ankles to preserve the knots. Once she was free, we helped her stand
up. She had [on] a white plastic bag that had holes cut out for her legs, so that
she was wearing like a makeshift diaper. It appeared that she had urinated in her
jeans because they were wet from her waist to halfway down to her knees.”

For his part, Feeney remembered, “The girl had brown jersey gloves on her hands and
they were duct-taped. Her hands were tied up with yellow rope and so were her ankles.
I identified who we were and asked if she was okay. The girl advised that she was
okay.”

Sarah’s first words to the officers took them completely by surprise. She said, “I
have to get to school.” Despite everything that had happened, Sarah was afraid that
she would be in trouble for missing so many days of school.

Detective Feeney assured her that she didn’t need to go to school right away. Then,
he reported, “after the photographs were taken, the girl asked if the suspect was
secured so he couldn’t hurt her. They assured her that he was. Then she said, ‘He
cut my finger with a knife, usually had me gagged, and he was going to release me
before Christmas.’”

Feeney asked her if she knew where anyone else was—meaning Tina, Kody or Stephanie—and
Sarah said that she didn’t know, but she thought that the man who had held her captive
had killed her dog.

Feeney helped Sarah get up, and she was of course still disoriented from having been
in the dark for so long. Sergeant Glazier recalled, “We told her again that she was
safe and that the Sheriff’s Office was handling the investigation and they would be
speaking with her shortly about what happened. We asked her if there had been anyone
else at the residence besides her and the suspect that she knew about. She said no,
and believed it had just been the two of them there.” Although she was not as certain
if her captor had someone outside the house helping him.

Glazier continued, “The suspect was taken from the residence area and secured in a
KCSO cruiser. We called for a medic unit to respond to check on Sarah and transport
her to Knox County Hospital (KCH). We helped her upstairs and stayed with her in the
living room until the medics came in with a stretcher. Sarah was briefly checked by
the medics and placed on the stretcher and covered with a blanket. She was taken out
and transported to KCH for treatment and evaluation. The suspect was transported to
KCSO.”

* * *

Special Agent Joe Dietz arrived at Matthew Hoffman’s house just as Sarah was being
led up the stairs from the basement. Dietz accompanied her to Knox County Hospital;
as they rode together to the hospital in the back of the ambulance, he monitored her
treatment and asked her some questions about her abduction and captivity.

Sarah remembered later how strange it felt to her to actually be speaking to someone
other than the man who had abducted her. She said, “I was glad they were helping me,
but it was kind of freaky talking to anyone at the time.” As yet she didn’t even know
Hoffman’s name. She was sure she had never seen him before and couldn’t imagine why
her family had been targeted. She was also having a hard time adjusting to all the
light. She had been in almost total darkness for so long that daylight seemed dazzling
to her eyes.

Sarah told Dietz that she and her brother had been attacked after entering their home
on Wednesday when they got home from school. “I told the investigators that me and
Kody saw the blood on the tile and there was nobody in there. We were like, ‘Oh my
gosh’—and then he came and snatched us.” Sarah told Dietz that the man had tried to
grab her, but she broke free and ran to her bedroom. She hadn’t actually seen him
kill Kody, but she was worried that Kody had not survived.

Sarah said that the man came to her bedroom, grabbed her and carried her down to the
basement where he used some available rope to tie her up. He then took her to the
kitchen floor and left her there for a long time before taking her to Stephanie Sprang’s
Jeep and placing her inside of it.

After a while, Sarah told them, he drove her to the Pipesville Road ball field parking
lot, which she recognized, and she was left in the backseat of the Jeep, covered with
blankets, for another long period of time. Later, the man came back, placed her in
a different car and drove her to the house where she was later found.

Sarah told Dietz that she had been tied up most of the time and had spent some time
in a bathroom and some in a closet before being transferred to the small dark area
in the basement. She was vague about when these movements occurred because her sense
of time had been eroded by this point. Sarah did say that the man would not tell her
what had happened to her mother, brother or Stephanie, but she suspected that he had
killed all of them.

In the hospital, BCI&I Special Agent Mark Kollar photographed the work gloves and
duct tape that Hoffman had used on Sarah. Then Kollar took possession of several pieces
of evidence, including a binding from Sarah’s right wrist, a binding from her left
wrist, a bag containing socks and boots, another bag containing her clothing, and
a kit connected to sexual molestation collected during the nurse’s examination of
Sarah.

Special Agent Dietz stayed with Sarah until Carrie Huffman, a caseworker from Ohio’s
Child and Family Services, and Tom Bumpus, the KCSO detective in charge of crimes
against children, arrived, followed shortly by Diana Oswalt, the victim advocate from
the Knox County Prosecutor’s Office.

Diana Oswalt had been with many victims in Knox County, but had never been involved
with anything like this. She’d come into her job by an unusual route; although she
had always wanted to help people in need. Until the late 1990s, Oswalt had worked
at banks in various capacities. She’d moved from one position to another, then finally
told her husband it was time for a new start. He agreed with her, and Oswalt put in
an application to become a victim’s advocate in Knox County.

Oswalt’s immediate concern for Sarah was to assure her that she was now safe and that
the suspect could no longer hurt her. He was in jail and would not be getting back
out. Sarah had some concerns that Matthew Hoffman had an accomplice, and Oswalt assured
Sarah that even if that was true, she would be well protected now and nobody could
hurt her.

* * *

Messages were flying all over the place by early Sunday afternoon. Greg Borders was
contacted about Sarah’s safe recovery by KCSO. He phoned Captain Shaffer wanting to
know if he should go to the hospital. Sarah was told by authorities that her uncles,
Tina’s brothers, had arrived at the hospital and wanted to see her, but Sarah kept
saying that she wanted her father, Larry Maynard. The only person she asked to see
was her dad.

Larry and his family were stunned when they got the news that Sarah was alive. His
first thoughts were filled with elation. “My daughter is alive!” And then the implication
of what he’d just heard hit him hard; nothing had been said about Kody, Tina or Stephanie.
What had happened to them? Were they alive as well?

Larry hurried to the hospital. He recalled, “It was all surreal going into the place.
I don’t even know what I was thinking by that point. I was beyond thinking. I went
into a room, and there she was. We just both went over and hugged each other. We didn’t
say a word. Just hugged each other as tightly as we could. I was crying like a baby.
This went on for ten or fifteen minutes before we said anything.”

All day long there had been a mob of reporters swirling around the Maynard residence,
KCSO headquarters, Matthew Hoffman’s residence. Diana Oswalt did her best to help
the Maynard family cope with the reporters and to shield them from the media onslaught
coming in from all sides, though in many ways, it was just as new to her as it was
to the Maynards. Nothing of this magnitude had ever befallen any of them before.

* * *

Later that Sunday, Sheriff David Barber held a press conference. He announced, “We
have good news to report today. We have located and rescued Sarah Maynard at approximately
8:00
AM
this morning. She was being held against her will, and she was in good condition
with non-life-threatening injuries. She was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
She has been interviewed somewhat. In the house with her was an individual from Mount
Vernon. He is now in the Knox County Jail currently charged with kidnapping. His name
is Matthew J. Hoffman, and he is thirty years old. We believe Sarah was under the
control of Mr. Hoffman since last Wednesday in one form or another and at one location
or another.”

There were of course a lot of questions about Matthew Hoffman from reporters. To these,
Sheriff Barber replied, “We are unsure at this time if Hoffman was acquainted with
the family. That remains to be seen as the investigation continues. Mr. Hoffman does
have a prior conviction in Colorado, for which he served prison time. Mr. Hoffman’s
residence on Columbus Road is currently being processed by the Bureau of Criminal
Identification and Investigation. It is being considered a crime scene and treated
as such.”

To a question about whether Tina, Kody and Stephanie were dead, Barber answered, “As
of right now, we have no one we are aware of who is deceased. Tomorrow, we hope DNA
testing can begin. We have been assured this will be considered a priority case by
the BCI&I.”

* * *

After Matt Hoffman was arrested and Sarah Maynard was freed from her basement captivity,
BCI&I agents began the long process of collecting, photographing and cataloguing the
evidence at Matthew Hoffman’s home.

BCI&I Special Agent Gary Wilgus wrote later, “The residence was photographed as it
was found, room by room, starting on the ground floor. I then photographed the basement
area as it was found. At the bottom of the stairway just to the left was a hole cut
through the block wall leading into a dark room where blankets and bedding had been
placed on the leaf covered floor.”

BCI&I Agent George Staley Jr. was also at Hoffman’s house and photographed the whole
residence, room by room, placing numbered placards at each key area. Item number 1
was a pair of Starter brand athletic shoes that had characteristics similar to the
footwear impressions found in Tina Herrmann’s house. Item 2 was a pair of boots that
matched some of the other impressions found at the house.

Item 3 was a camouflaged T-shirt identical to the one the individual caught on the
security camera tape had been wearing at Walmart around midnight on November 10. The
next item of significance, item 5, was a Canon PowerShot A470 camera found in a dresser
drawer on the ground floor. The camera was later accessed and photographs of Sarah
Maynard were identified on the camera. These were photos of Sarah during her ordeal
at Hoffman’s house.

Another item of importance, number 5.2, was a leather sap or blackjack found in the
same dresser, and item 6 was a large SOG brand sheath-type knife, also found in the
dresser drawer. Item 9 was a piece of rope found in the basement at the bottom of
the stairway. Law enforcement officers later informed Staley that this piece of rope
had been used to bind Sarah and had been cut by them to preserve the original knots.
Other items included a roll of gray duct tape, and a blue blanket that had been used
to cover Sarah. Also in the basement area were a sweatshirt, two more blankets, a
pillow and more gray duct tape.

Three computers were found in various parts of the house, as well as one thousand
dollars in cash stuffed inside an envelope. An LG brand flip phone was collected from
the ground floor, a Casio flip phone from one kitchen drawer and a Motorola flip phone
from another.

Though two of the most interesting items discovered in the residence were a bone and
an apparent bloodstain, later testing would prove that neither came from a human.

EIGHTEEN

“I Knew I Had Done Something Wrong”

The
Mount Vernon News
was one of the first print news organizations to report Sarah’s recovery. The headline
stated, “One found; man in custody; search continues.”

Reporters started scrambling in every direction, talking to Matt Hoffman’s neighbors
on Columbus Road, digging into his past, going out to where Larry Maynard lived in
Franklin County.

Dawna Davis, Hoffmann’s next-door neighbor, told reporters she started keeping her
children away from Hoffman because he was so weird. She said, “The only interaction
I had with him was over his dog. I talked to the man through a window about his dog
attacking our dog in our yard.” She went on to describe the way Hoffman had interacted
with her children, and his actions against his girlfriend before she’d left him.

As for the Sunday morning SWAT raid at Hoffmann’s home, Davis said, “I had just gotten
up and was on the computer talking to my aunt, and heard a great big boom. I opened
my window and saw all those officers with their guns drawn. I didn’t know what was
going on!”

Dawna and her three children had to stay in their house, by orders of the police,
until 2:00
PM
Sunday. As soon as she was given the all-clear from the police, Dawna grabbed her
kids and dog and left the house in a hurry.

In a more detailed news conference, Sheriff David Barber related to reporters how
the SWAT raid had rescued Sarah Maynard and was the result of investigative efforts
by sheriff’s office detectives and others. Barber said, “Unfortunately, as of this
time, we have not located Tina, Stephanie or Kody. Hoffman has not given us any information
and has not been cooperative at this point. The residence on Columbus Road is currently
being processed by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. It’s being
considered a crime scene and treated as such.”

Sheriff Barber went on to say that “a significant amount of blood” had been found
in Tina Herrmann’s residence on King Beach Drive. He added that police had searched
sections of Apple Valley Lake and Foundation Park, where a wooded area was now taped
off. This probably came about because some of Matt Hoffman’s neighbors told FBI agents
that Hoffman often took walks through there. There was a section where a former gravel
pit had been turned into a recreation area with small ponds. Authorities were concerned
about what those ponds might hold.

Barber related that aircraft from the Ohio State Highway Patrol were flying over locations
in the county, using infrared scanners. Other officers were on quad runners, going
over the rural areas of the county.

* * *

Before the news of Sarah’s rescue had begun to spread, friends, family and concerned
citizens of Apple Valley had gathered at the Apple Valley Property Owner’s Association
office on Sunday, November 14, 2010, to start a new day of searching. Stephen Thompson,
Stephanie’s father, thanked all of the volunteers for their time, and then volunteers
Jennifer and Brian Kessler, who were coordinating volunteer efforts, organized the
people into groups and gave them directions as to where to begin their searches. Around
three hundred people showed up that day.

The Kesslers also gave out these instructions: “We ask that if you find something,
to back away, mark where you saw it and immediately call the sheriff’s office. We
don’t want to ruin anything, so please be careful. If there are any locations you
think we should check out, please let us know.”

The volunteers headed out in teams. One team of nine, headed by Brian Kessler, went
down Magers Road to a location along Little Jelloway Creek, while another team that
included Robin Scoles, who was just one of many volunteers, searched around Bennett
Park and Skyline Drive. Robin told a reporter, “If it was me or my daughter missing,
I would want people to look for us.”

And then volunteers’ cell phones started ringing with the news that Sarah Maynard
had been found alive. It brought both hope and fear about the fate of the others.
If one had been found alive, maybe the others would be too—but if so, why hadn’t they
been with Sarah, and why was there so much blood in Tina Herrmann’s home?

While some decided to give up searching once Sarah had been found, others poured in
to start new search groups. In one of these was Elizabeth Foor, who described herself
as a concerned parent. She said, “I have two daughters, and it’s so sad to hear this
has happened. I knew I had to come out to help.”

One search party found two shirts along a gravel road on the east side of Apple Valley.
The shirts looked as if they had been ripped and were draped over a tree limb. Felicia
White, a friend of Stephanie Sprang’s, phoned KCSO to inform them of what they had
just found. She thought one of the shirts might have been something Stephanie had
worn. Awhile later, a KCSO deputy arrived, took the shirt and thanked the volunteers
for their efforts.

Felicia later told a reporter, “I’m so thankful for all the prayers and community
support. When I heard about what happened, I knew I couldn’t let it go. I had to help.
I just want everyone to know that [Stephanie’s] a great person and a great mom. She
would never leave her kids for any reason. I’m not going to give up. Never going to
give up until they’re found.”

* * *

Because of the discovery of Sarah alive, the complaint against Matthew Hoffman was
enlarged by Detective David Light. He noted in the formal complaint that “on or about
the 11th day of November 2010, Matthew J. Hoffman did commit kidnapping, by force,
threat or deception. He did remove Sarah Maynard from the place where she was found,
with the purpose to facilitate the commission of a felony of flight thereafter, a
felony of the first degree.”

With Sarah safe, the KCSO officers had much to do at the house on Columbus Road. Sergeant
Troy Glazier recalled, “Once the scene was secure, Deputy Minot started a crime scene
log. This was shortly turned over to [Detective Craig] Feeney, who logged everyone
entering the scene. A convoy of BCI&I and FBI vehicles came to the location once it
was secured to begin processing evidence. [Detective] Feeney and I briefly spoke with
an FBI Agent and advised him of our entry and some things we observed inside the residence
as well as our contact with Sarah.

Captain Shaffer requested that we leave two ESU Team members at the scene to assist
them. [Detective] Feeney stayed to continue the crime scene log, and Patrolman [Tim]
Arnold also stayed to assist with anything else that was needed. The rest of the MVPD
ESU team loaded up and went to the police department for a short debriefing.” To say
they had had an eventful morning was to compare a hill to Mount Everest.

Matthew Hoffman had, of course, been booked at the KCSO headquarters. It was noted
that he was Caucasian, stood six feet, one inch tall, and weighed 185 pounds. His
hair and eyes were brown. He had recently turned thirty; his date of birth was noted
as November 1, 1980.

Hoffman’s clothing was taken from him and stored as evidence. Items included a pair
of black sweatpants, a white T-shirt, a red sweatshirt, one pair of white socks and
a blue and yellow hat. He also had to submit to two buccal DNA swabs and two penis
swabs.

Concurrent to all the dramatic events happening on Columbus Road, FBI Special Agent
Harry Trombitas and KCSO Lieutenant Gary Rohler had been in Apple Valley, talking
with Matthew Hoffman’s mother and stepfather. As they were speaking with the parents,
Rohler was suddenly informed that the suspect was in custody, and was requested to
come in to help interview Hoffman.

As soon as Lieutenant Rohler arrived at KCSO headquarters, he met with Detective Sergeant
Roger Brown and the two men went in to interview Hoffman. Hoffman was read his rights
and shown the KCSO statement of rights form. He waived his right to a lawyer, but
from the very beginning Hoffman refused to answer any questions put to him by either
Rohler or Brown. He pantomimed that his heart was broken, but did not utter a word
during questioning, which lasted for hours. Of course, the main questions were, “Where
are Tina, Kody and Stephanie, and are they still alive?” But Hoffman gave no clue
as to what their fates might have been.

Detective Sergeant Brown noted during this time, “For over the next three hours we
attempted to get Matthew to speak to us, but he would not respond. On occasion he
would nod his head and drink his water, but continued not to speak. He would close
his eyes for long periods of time, put his head down on the desk and occasionally
shed tears.” The videotaped session also revealed that at times, Hoffman would yawn.

The interrogation went on and on despite Hoffman’s irresponsiveness. Finally BCI&I
Special Agent Joe Dietz entered the room and after about fifteen minutes, was able
to convince Hoffman to speak the first words he’d said to anyone for several hours.
Hoffman said that he was having a hard time figuring out what had happened. Then,
after a long pause, he claimed that he’d “found” Sarah in his house, so he figured
that he must have done something wrong.

Hoffman continued with this bizarre version of events: “I found her in the house and
she was tied up. So I took care of her. I found her on Thursday and I didn’t know
how she had gotten there, but she told me I had ‘done it.’ I knew I had done something
wrong, but I didn’t know what it was and I was trying to piece things together.”

Hoffman added that he didn’t know Sarah prior to coming across her tied up in his
basement. After making these few statements, Hoffman once again became unresponsive
to all questioning. Since they were getting nowhere, the officers concluded the interview
a short time later on Sunday evening.