The Girl in the Leaves (12 page)

NINETEEN

A Flood of Tips

Authorities continued their work at Hoffman’s house, photographing, collecting and
cataloguing a variety of items. In addition to the strange drawings on the bathroom
wall that Sarah had noticed, the most unusual were the many bags of leaves, which
were attached to the walls and scattered around the house. Every square inch of open
space along the walls was taken up with these bags. There were also loose leaves scattered
around the floor, and bags that had not yet been filled. It was as if the purpose
of the whole house was to become a repository for leaves. None of the leaves had been
there when Hoffman’s girlfriend moved out only weeks previously.

Items were being seized from Matt Hoffman’s silver Toyota Yaris as well. These included
a used roll of duct tape, a Lowe’s store receipt in a trash bag and a receipt from
a Mount Vernon Duchess Shoppe (a gas station convenience store). There was a receipt
from McDonald’s, a sandwich container on the backseat and a Walmart bag. Also seized
was a small suitcase with tree-climbing gear inside. One of the more ominous findings
was a folding saw in a suitcase on the front passenger seat.

Every bit of evidence was looked at, no matter how small. Anything could hold a clue
as to where Tina, Kody and Stephanie were. The items were like scattered pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle, and the investigators still had no idea what the total puzzle looked
like.

On November 14, a strange call came in to KCSO at 7:36
PM
. A message sheet was notated, “Detectives, Captain or Whoever—Ron Metcalf is demanding
to speak with someone about yesterday and wants a protection order.” Just what the
protection order was all about was not mentioned on the form.

Around the same time, a Kelly G left a message for Captain Shaffer: “There is a smell
outside the humane society. It smells like something decaying.” And a woman who would
not give her name told detectives to check the Caves Campground.

A man named Mike M reported, “I was friends with Matt Hoffman before he went to Colorado.
Matthew is very familiar with the Apple Valley clubhouse area and also the spillway
area.” Then Mike said that Hoffman had been hanging around with a certain male friend
since getting back from Colorado, and Mike gave that person’s name.

Matt Cox, principal of Mount Vernon Middle School, related that a student told him
that he used to go swimming with Matthew Hoffman and “do other things” with him. KCSO
later contacted this student.

Larry H told the dispatcher at KCSO, “Friday evening, by Riverside Park, there was
a guy, tall and thin, looking over the bridge. He had a kid with him who looked to
be about six to ten years old.”

And Carolyn H noted that on Thursday night after dark, at 7:00
PM,
she heard a vehicle stop by a tan house to the right of hers, directly behind which
were some woods. She heard someone get out of the vehicle. The person was nearby,
and she could hear a lot of rustling of leaves. It scared her so badly she ran back
into her house.

People also called to share specific details about Matthew Hoffman. A man told KCSO,
“Matthew Hoffman likes to cut through Foundation Park with his car. He almost hit
me there one day.”

Kathy M said, “Heard a long thud and loud scream at about 3:30
AM
in the morning earlier in the week.” This was in an area near Hoffman’s residence.

An individual named Mike B related that on Wednesday, November 10, between 3:00 and
4:00
PM
, he was on the Kokosing Gap Trail heading west just past the railroad bridge and
there were two people below the bridge. Mike said, “There was a girl sitting on her
butt with her hands behind her. A man was kneeling in front of her. The female had
some clothes laying in front of her.”

Mark M contacted authorities and said, “Across the street from a rental equipment
company is a white barn. Behind that are four-wheel trails. Matthew and I used to
go back there and hang out. We were back there all the time.”

Another person got in contact with an officer and related, “Check trees for evidence.
Matt talked about living in trees. He always carried ropes and a chain saw in his
trunk.”

Some of the tips were coming in from much farther afield than the local community.
Ron F of Chicago claimed to have spotted the two missing women and boy in Chicago.
Stanley O of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was sure he’d spotted the women and boy at a
Raceway Gas Station there.

Another strange tip came in from a woman named Cornella K from Rhode Island. She stated
from the photograph she saw, Matthew Hoffman appeared to have “a very peculiar messed-up
nose and twisted ears. Genetic abnormalities which affect the physical body to such
an extent tend to also affect the brain and glands.” Cornella thought that Hoffman’s
lawyer should become involved so that he could find an expert analyst in such abnormalities.
This expert might persuade Hoffman to reveal where the missing three people were.
Cornella signed off, “Doing all in the name/reputation of the Lord Jesus the Christ.”

Gary C of Long Beach, California, claimed, “I’m a psychic from California. Kokosing
Gap Trail at the intersection of State Route 36 goes under State Route 36 southwest
and northeast. Take the trail south for one thousand feet. Another small trail runs
along that trail. Go east to Howard Street in Howard. Where two trails branch off
is where bodies are covered with red plastic.” A later note by authorities related
that the Knox County Emergency Management Agency director Brian Hess went there, but
found nothing.

Another psychic phoned in and said, “The three others are still alive. They are being
held by a white male forty-five to fifty-five years old. He is of medium build and
rough looking. He is unemployed and staying in a house owned by his mother. This is
in an adjacent county, probably east of Mount Vernon. He knows the family or a family
friend, and has done work around the house. He used a weapon to get them in an older
van or SUV. The suspect in jail knows this subject and will crack during interrogation.”

* * *

KCSO by Sunday evening was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of work they were now
tasked with. Assignments included the ongoing search of Matthew Hoffman’s residence
and seizure of items therein; the interrogation of Hoffman, who had yet to divulge
what had happened to Tina, Kody and Stephanie; the taking in and logging of the tips;
the coordination of volunteer search efforts; and the dispensing of news to the hoard
of television and print journalists whose news vehicles and satellite trucks were
camped out in the KCSO parking lot. This last matter was a huge headache for the office
in general and for Sheriff David Barber in particular. Nothing like this had ever
happened in Knox County before.

To help in this regard, FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas made a list of suggestions
about how to deal with the media and what information to dispense to them. Sheriff
Barber was grateful for the advice and used it as a template in his remarks to reporters.

Trombitas started out by suggesting that the sheriff release this statement: “Based
on evidence discovered at the two crime scenes and what investigators have learned
through various interviews, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office is moving into a new
phase of the investigation, and we are now conducting a two-pronged investigative
approach.

“Prong one deals with the blood at the initial scene and the recovery of Sarah. Investigators
are considering the possibility that the three missing persons may have in fact been
killed.” Trombitas added that because of what was known so far, the bodies of the
three may have been moved to an undisclosed location by Matt Hoffman or someone helping
him, and suggested that KCSO now ask all citizens of the region to think back to the
afternoon of Wednesday, November 10, or Thursday, November 11, and report any unusual
sightings of suspicious persons or activity they may have witnessed. Citizens of the
county, especially in rural areas near Mount Vernon and Apple Valley, should search
their properties for recent tire marks or places where a person could have driven
in with a vehicle, especially in areas where there was concealing foliage or outbuildings.
The statement also instructed people not touch anything that looked suspicious, but
to call KCSO immediately.

Prong two dealt with the chance that Tina, Kody and Stephanie could still be alive.
Trombitas told Barber, “Now may be a good time to give the media photos of the three
known vehicles involved—the Toyota Yaris, the pickup and Jeep. Sometimes seeing an
image is far superior in jogging the memory of a citizen than just a verbal description.”

Trombitas ended his message to Sheriff Barber by stating he would advise not giving
out any additional information about the two crime scenes—Tina’s home on King Beach
Drive and Matt Hoffman’s residence on Columbus Road—and he also suggested that Sheriff
Barber schedule formal press conferences at specific hours each day.

* * *

Larry Maynard and his family had their own challenges dealing with the swarm of media
that surrounded their home. Never in their wildest dreams had any of them ever imagined
they would be placed in such a position.

Larry recalled, “There were news vans and satellite trucks all up and down [our] street.
The reporters were constantly ringing the door bell, and at first I just told them
I wasn’t giving any interviews. After a while I put up a sign, ‘Don’t ring the doorbell
or knock. Please respect our privacy.’ It didn’t help. They kept ringing the door
bell and asking for interviews anyway.

“Phone calls were coming in from everywhere. Local news stations and national ones.
We were even getting calls from overseas. And talk shows were calling as well. The
phone wouldn’t stop ringing. We felt like we were trapped in our own house. It was
horrible!

“We were hunkered down like prisoners in our own house. We had Sarah back, (she was
at home with Larry and his family at that point) and that was great. But we couldn’t
stop worrying about Kody, Tina and Stephanie. I could barely eat. I could barely sleep.
I’d just go from a daze into kind of half-sleep. Even then, it was mostly just falling
into a daze in a chair.”

* * *

At 7:15
PM
on November 14, an interesting development took place. BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz
convinced Matthew Hoffman to take a ride with him in an effort to refresh his memory
about what had occurred. As Dietz wrote in a report, “Detective [Doug] Turpen, Special
Agent [Kristin] Cadieux and I accompanied Hoffman on this drive to different parts
of Knox County.”

The investigators’ reports later stated precisely when and where they had gone, noting
that they left the sheriff’s office, drove to Hoffman’s mother’s house and then by
Tina Herrmann’s house. They went down Magers Road, turned around and went by Tina’s
house and again by Hoffman’s mother’s house once more. Then they drove to the ball
fields at East Knox Middle School and later by the baseball field in Howard. They
stopped off at a Burger King for some food, went on to Foundation Park and finally
back to the sheriff’s office.

Alas, the trip was a bust, as Hoffman did not reveal anything as to where Tina, Kody
and Stephanie might be found. Attempts to have Matthew Hoffman answer questions continued
into Monday, November 15. Detective David Light noted, “He would occasionally drink
some water, but would not even answer if he wanted a bathroom break. The efforts to
have him speak included FBI Agent Kristin Cadieux, but he would not talk much about
the incidents that led to his arrest.”

Though investigators were determined to get information out of Matthew Hoffman, and
they tried all the interrogation techniques standard in these kinds of interviews,
Hoffman remained absolutely silent.

TWENTY

“The Epitome of Bravery”

Requests for interviews with Larry and Sarah Maynard only increased on Monday, November
15, 2010. Not only were radio outlets and newspaper journalists trying to talk to
them, but representatives from
Good Morning America
,
Oprah
,
Maury
and many more national television programs were also calling. Even networks from
overseas were interested in the story.

Larry said, “I didn’t want to talk to any of them. We just had gotten Sarah back,
and our main concerns were about what had happened to Tina, Kody and Stephanie. I
just wanted the world to go away and leave me alone. But the phone kept ringing, and
the media was camped all around us.”

* * *

Sheriff David Barber gave his afternoon press conference on November 15, following
FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas’s suggestions, and revealed a few more facts about
the ongoing investigation. Barber said, “We’re here to give you an update on the investigation.
The positive aspect of the investigation occurred yesterday morning at approximately
8:00
AM
with the rescue of thirteen-year-old Sarah Maynard. Sarah is with family members
now. She was examined at a local hospital and treated at a local hospital. She has
been reunited with family members and is doing well.

“As a result of the investigation and as a result of Sarah’s rescue and the arrest
of Matthew Hoffman, our investigation has taken a turn in a little bit different direction.
It kind of has a two-pronged approach now. Obviously with her rescue we still want
to remain optimistic that Tina, Stephanie and Kody are alive and being held against
their will at some location. That makes it important for the public to think back
to what they were doing last Wednesday or Thursday. Did they see something unusual?
Something before all this became an event. Did they see someone unusual in the area?
A car parked somewhere or something like that. If so, I would like them to please,
please, please call the sheriff’s office. We do have a tip line in place. We need
that kind of information—whether it’s vehicles or something that didn’t seem quite
right.

“The other approach to the investigation is, unfortunately when you have a situation
like this, when you’ve had four missing people for almost a week and there’s been
no contact with them with the exception of Sarah—we have to approach this investigation
that Tina, Stephanie and Kody are dead. That they have been killed.

“That makes it crucial that if a person sees something—something out of the ordinary,
don’t touch it. Don’t assume it belongs there. It could be clothing, a bag, something
like that, it could contain evidence with which we need to further the investigation.

“We are continuing with search efforts, and I think a lot of you [the media] have
seen that this morning. That’s where we are today. I will take questions now. I will
remind you, this is an active investigation. There is a lot of sensitive information
that could impede a successful prosecution, so there are some questions I will not
be able to answer.”

The first questions asked were about recent police searches in Foundation Park and
whether there had been anything specific in the park that led them there.

Barber said no, and explained, “Most of you know that Matthew Hoffman lives at Columbus
Road. Right across the street is a lane that leads into that park. Foundation Park
has ponds and it’s a former gravel pit. That’s why we’re searching.”

In fact, down in Foundation Park, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources had conducted
a search of the water areas via a boat equipped with sonar. They located two objects
in the water and called in dive team members from the Fredericktown Fire Department.
The objects were discovered to be two vehicles submerged in the water. This caused
a lot of excitement, but ultimately neither turned out to have any connection to the
case. One was an older model Mercury Grand Marquis full of dirt and sediment that
had clearly been in the water for quite a while. The other was a Ford Expedition that
investigators learned had been stolen in 2006.

When asked whether Matthew Hoffman had been cooperative in the investigation, Barber
was guarded. “I won’t comment on what he has or has not been doing,” he said, adding
only, “The investigators are talking with him, and I think most people when they’re
arrested—they’re not too likely to want to talk about it. That’s all I want to say.”

Questions turned to the three people still missing.

“Have you found out if there was a connection between Mr. Hoffman and these four people?”
a journalist inquired.

Barber answered, “Other than that he has a relative who lives within walking distance,
not at this time.”

“You said that Sarah had been in his possession, whatever you want to call it, of
Mr. Hoffman dating back to Wednesday. What is the last time Sarah saw those other
three individuals?”

Barber responded that Sarah had last seen her mother and brother on Wednesday, and
he wasn’t sure about Stephanie, though it had possibly been on the Tuesday.

One reporter asked, “You said that you’re hopeful that [the three missing people are]
alive, but there is the possibility that they’re dead. Which way are you leaning on
that?”

Barber answered, “I have to be realistic. It’s been all this time and evidence that’s
been gathered, and evidence discovered yesterday—well, with the families, we’re making
sure they’re aware of the ultimate possibility in this.”

“When did you start to believe that Tina, Stephanie and Kody might be dead?” a journalist
asked.

Barber said, “We still are hopeful that they are alive. But we have to be realistic
that the amount of blood in the house and the fact that Sarah was found with the suspect
and no one else was found there, and no one has seen them since Wednesday of last
week—that is troubling.”

This was followed by, “Were all four people alive when they left the house?” Barber
said he didn’t know the answer to that.

“With these lives in the balance, how far can you push Matthew Hoffman for answers?”
Barber was asked.

“Everything within the law,” he replied.

Someone asked, “Is the search confined only locally? Or is there a plan to expand
it out of state?”

Barber replied, “At this time there’s no reason to believe the three missing persons
are outside the geographical area of Knox County.”

“Can you address how you and your officers are handling all of this?”

For a moment Sheriff Barber was facetious and said, “We just don’t sleep.” Then he
added, “But in all seriousness, because of the partnership we have with the FBI, with
the attorney general’s office, BCI&I, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Delaware County
Sheriff’s Office and other agencies, we work around the clock, rotating people in
and rotating people out.”

A reporter wondered if the sheriff’s office had a person of interest other than Matthew
Hoffman in mind. Barber answered, “Not at this time. There’s nothing to indicate that
he had an accomplice. But the investigation is still in progress.”

“Can you comment on Sarah’s health condition right now?”

“It’s my understanding that physically she’s fine. Obviously she’s been through a
lot and she’s going to be recovering from that with the help of services.”

“Have you gotten any information from her?”

“Investigators have.”

“Have her statements been helpful?”

“Absolutely.”

“Have the suspect’s parents, who live near the home—have they been cooperative?”

“They have been cooperative.”

Another reporter asked if Barber could go into more detail about Sarah. Barber stated,
“She is a very brave little girl. I have not met her in person yet. My investigators
have talked to her, and I’m looking forward to the day I get to meet Sarah Maynard,
because not only is she assisting the investigation, but under the circumstances,
a thirteen-year-old girl being held captive for days by a stranger—I would call that
the epitome of bravery.”

A reporter asked how long Sarah had been bound and gagged during her captivity. Barber
said, “I’m not going to be specific, but I think she told us she had not been bound
and gagged the whole time.”

“Did he hurt her or assault her in any way?”

Barber responded, “I can’t comment on that.”

A reporter asked what Sheriff Barber thought of all the citizen volunteers out searching.
He said, “I think it’s outstanding. But they need to be mindful that they’re not used
to doing these sorts of things. They need to be organized so that they’re not contaminating
evidence by just tromping around. If they see something out of the ordinary, they
need to step back and let an officer know about it.”

One reporter brought up the fact that some of Hoffman’s neighbors said that he had
been acting strangely in the days before all of this happened. Barber replied, “Those
folks will be interviewed by law enforcement. And no matter how insignificant it may
sound, anything like that, that people remember, they should call the sheriff’s office.
It’s going to be followed up by law enforcement.”

“Is Greg Borders, the ex-boyfriend, a person of interest?”

Sheriff Barber gave an emphatic, “No.”

* * *

The sheriff’s news conference provided Larry Maynard no new answers. He wanted to
go out with one of the search parties, but family and friends were against this. They
worried what would happen if he stumbled upon Tina’s and Kody’s bodies. Although they
still held out hope that Tina and Kody were alive, the prospects of that were dimming
by the hour.

While the Maynards tried to cope, the tips continued to pour into KCSO.

Todd K said that he’d seen one of the missing women in a green minivan. And TJ, who
stated that he worked for a cable company, said that while working close to Mathew
Hoffman’s house on Columbus Road on Friday, November 12, he’d seen a boxy black van
parked in front of Hoffman’s residence.

Doris D reported that over the weekend, two rough-looking men had come to her door
asking about Stephanie. One of them had blue eyes and big arms and was very demanding.

Jeff S said he worked at the library at Kenyon College and he often walked on the
paths near the Brown Family Environmental Center where Tina’s pickup truck had been
found. Jeff told an investigator that there were remains of a fire near a path. This
was against the rules, and Jeff had learned that Matthew Hoffman had been convicted
of arson. Jeff related, “Hoffman may have camped out on the path by the river.”

Brenda R told an investigator that a pickup truck with a camper shell was parked about
a quarter mile from Tina’s residence. According to Brenda, the pickup had showed up
two days before the people went missing. Someone told her that Hoffman drove a car,
but recently he had been driving a pickup truck as well.

And Jay S said that on Friday morning, November 12, “I saw a male matching Matthew’s
description, walking on Route 229 East toward Mount Vernon. He was just passing where
the trail crosses 229 between Duff [Street] and Wiggins Street.”

* * *

Monday evening, a private prayer vigil, closed to the media, was held at the South
Vernon Methodist Church. Another, public prayer vigil, however, was held at the Public
Square in Mount Vernon. Many people who did not personally know Sarah or the others
who were still missing gathered there.

Megan Sowul of Mount Vernon was in that group and said, “We don’t know them personally,
but we know people who do know them. It’s really sad. We have a nephew who is ten
years old, and we can’t imagine if this happened to him.”

Jay Berger was there with his wife, Betty, and related, “We have children, and we
certainly would want people praying for us. We came because we thought it was our
duty, and who else can we turn to except our heavenly father?” The Bergers had driven
to Mount Vernon from Mount Liberty, about ten miles away.

Pastor Dennis Eggerton led the crowd in prayer at the Public Square. His wife, Gennelle
Eggerton, was the principal at the East Knox Elementary School and had known both
Sarah and Kody personally. In part, Eggerton prayed, “Lord, it’s times like these
that people turn to you. Father, with our troubled hearts we come to you. Father,
be with them. Give them strength. Keep us as a community ready to come alongside when
the time is right, and teach us to bear the burden. We cry out to you at times like
this when we have nowhere else to go. Be with the ones who need you the most.”

Cameron Keller, who was in the crowd, told a journalist what many in the area felt:
“We’re all upset. We’re just completely taken aback by what’s happened in our small
town. I just can’t believe this could happen in Mount Vernon.”