The Girl in the Leaves (9 page)

Ron was surprised enough that he texted Stephanie’s cell phone with a message, “What’s
up?” He then got an indication later that the message was “unread,” and assumed that
the battery in her cell phone had died.

Agent Trombitas noted in his report, “Metcalf stated that he was aware that Tina and
her boyfriend, Greg Borders, had issues, but did not elaborate.”

Stephanie’s twenty-year-old son, Michael Kupiec was very cooperative and concerned
about the welfare of his mother. Michael said he’d received a phone call Thursday
morning from his sister, Trisha, who told him, “Mom’s missing!”

Michael headed home and kept trying to reach his mom on her cell phone, but to no
avail. Later in the day he got a call from Tina Herrmann’s boyfriend, Greg Borders,
but he missed that call; when he called Greg back, Greg told Michael that he’d been
out playing golf with friends, but said that Stephanie and Tina were both missing,
and that Tina’s manager had gone into the house and contacted the sheriff’s office.
Greg told him that he’d given the police permission to enter the house, which they
had. Greg went on to explain that the police had apparently found a lot of blood there,
and that they’d then told him they needed to get a search warrant before proceeding.

Michael was visibly upset, and he told Agent Trombitas that Trombitas was the first
law enforcement officer who had contacted him. Michael didn’t understand why the sheriff’s
office hadn’t contacted him yet, and he was completely in the dark about what had
happened to his mother. He was just as in the dark about what was going on as Larry
Maynard.

* * *

It was, of course, important for Special Agents Wilgus and Winterich of BCI&I to draw
some kind of conclusion regarding the various bloodstains in Tina Herrmann’s residence.
From their conclusions, other investigators could get a better idea of what they were
dealing with. To this end, the blood specialists made a list of six points.

First was that three individual saturation stains and their associated spatter stains
were consistent with three of the four missing persons having been assaulted, resulting
in significant blood loss in the house.

Second was that the three swipe patterns leading from the saturation stains to the
bathtub—in conjunction with the amount of blood, tissue and fat deposits found in
the bathtub itself—indicated the possibility of dismemberment or some other major
injury to some or all of the missing persons.

Third was that the altered bloodstains in the bathtub, on the vinyl floor at the front
door and at the bottom of the steps leading into the garage indicated some movement
of the missing persons after contact with water or other altering substances.

Fourth was that the presence of bleached carpeting, motor oil and wipe patterns all
indicated an attempt to alter, hide, remove or cover the bloodstains.

Fifth was that the presence of nonaltered, passive drops of blood in separate parts
of the house indicated the possibility of an individual having been cut or injured.
In addition to the three individuals who had sustained a major bleeding event and/or
dismemberment, there was a different outcome for one individual. Either the perpetrator
or the fourth victim had been merely cut during the assault.

And finally, the sixth point was that the lack of fingerprint or palm-print ridge
detail in blood and the presence of fabric patterns in blood indicated that the assailant
had probably been wearing gloves at the time of the bloodletting events.

* * *

BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz worked well into the late-night hours of November 12,
like many other law enforcement officers that day. He noted later, “Jeremy Biggs voluntarily
came to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and was interviewed by me. Also present for
the interview was Special Agent Rick Wozniak of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Jeremy Biggs had sold the Jeep to Stephanie and still had his name on the Department
of Vehicles registration form.

“Biggs stated that he and Stephanie Sprang [had been] best friends for three years
but had never really dated. Biggs stated he was last in contact with Sprang at 12:10
PM
on Wednesday, November 10th, while he was at work. Biggs said he spoke to Sprang
on the phone at that time and she was actually at his house doing schoolwork on his
computer.” Just what classes she may have been taking or why she was doing schoolwork
he didn’t say.

“Biggs added that Sprang cleaned his house once a week as a part time job. Biggs also
said that the Jeep Cherokee that Sprang drove was in his name as a result of it having
been bought shortly after Sprang had a DUI arrest. Biggs said although Sprang paid
for the vehicle, it could not be put in her name for insurance purposes.

“Biggs said that he was at work all day on Wednesday and that he was in a sales meeting
most of the day with several people at work. [His general manager] could account for
his being there on November 10.” November 10 was the day that Tina, Sarah, Kody and
Stephanie disappeared.

Agent Dietz later followed up on Jeremy Biggs’s story, and the general manager at
the Mount Vernon Jeld-Wen Windows and Doors facility were Jeremy worked confirmed
it, saying that Jeremy had come to work around 8:00
AM
and left around 5:00
PM
that day.

The manager also added that Jeremy had often referred to Stephanie Sprang as his “best
friend.”

FOURTEEN

“An Unusual Amount of Blood”

By Saturday, November 13, 2010, a reporter contacted East Middle School, which both
Sarah and Kody Maynard attended. East Knox Schools Superintendent Matthew Caputo confirmed
that the children had been in school on Wednesday, November 10, but not on November
11. In fact, the school had made a courtesy call on that same day to see if the children
were all right. They’d received no response.

Caputo said that KCSO was taking care of matters now, so he couldn’t say much more.
He did add, however, that plans were in place if a “crisis” had occurred. “We have
procedures we follow to ensure we are taking care of the needs of the kids. If a student
is bothered by something, we are going to have a set of ears to listen to them and
help them to be able to get through whatever it is. We also have some local folks
who we can call on, youth ministers and such.”

* * *

After all of Matthew Hoffman’s exertions over the last few days, he finally felt safe
enough to spend more time with the girl in his house. There was no doubt in his mind
that she was pretty. She was very young, but that didn’t matter to him. Since she
was tied up, she’d have to go along with whatever he wanted.

* * *

Sarah had been lying on a bed of leaves that Hoffman had constructed for her in the
dark basement. She felt distressed and ashamed that she had wet herself while tied
up there, but there was nothing she could do about it. He hadn’t let her use the bathroom
when she needed to. At least he’d put gloves on her hands; otherwise, the cold dank
basement might have been unbearable.

Suddenly the man was back downstairs and asking her to do something. At first she
didn’t understand what it was he was asking, but then it became all too plain. He
said some things to her that disgusted her, but she knew this was one more thing that
she’d have to endure if she wanted to stay alive.

* * *

More than fifty miles away, Larry and his family felt like they were in a bunker of
their own. Media vans and reporters surrounded the house. Larry’s mind wandered between
anger, hope and despair. He knew that the longer this ordeal went on, the less likely
it was that there would be a good ending to all of it. Tracy brought out food for
him to eat, but he barely touched it. His stomach was tied in knots and no food was
appealing to him. He wondered what to tell AJ. What do you tell a boy that young about
a situation like this?

Tina’s brother Bill was suffering through the same emotions as Larry. His girlfriend,
Lisa Robey, later related, “I remember one night after leaving the police station,
we had stopped at a restaurant. We hadn’t eaten in days, and still were not hungry,
but we knew we needed to eat. While sitting at a table, I started looking at the people
around me. While I was looking, I remember thinking, ‘What’s wrong with everyone?
Why are they happy? Why are they laughing? Why are they complaining about mashed potatoes?
Don’t they know what just happened? Don’t they know that our world has stopped?’ For
some reason, I had thought that just because our lives stopped, everyone else’s should
have also.

“That’s not the way the world works. You sometimes see and hear of the tragic stories
on TV, and naturally feel sorry for the families, but never think it would happen
to your family, or someone that you know. There were endless trips to Mount Vernon.
Numerous phone calls from family and friends wanting answers, in which we had no answers
to give.”

* * *

On November 13, Lieutenant Gary Rohler and Detective Doug Turpen interviewed Alexa
Leasure at the sheriff’s office. Alexa was a friend and coworker of Tina’s from Dairy
Queen. Alexa explained to the officers that Tina had been having relationship problems
with Greg Borders, and that Tina was in the process of finding a new place to rent.
Tina, Sarah and Kody were going to move out of the King Beach Drive residence.

Next on the list of people the officers talked to was Valerie Haythorn, who took them
again through the story about her concern for Tina, and how she’d decided to enter
the residence on King Beach Drive. Valerie reiterated that once she saw blood, she’d
exited quickly and called the sheriff’s office.

Both Lieutenant Rohler and Detective Turpen followed Valerie to her own house after
the interview and collected the pair of shoes she had been wearing when she entered
Tina’s home. These shoes were taken as evidence in the case, so that the forensics
team could try to decipher any footprints Valerie might have left in Tina’s home from
those left by the assailant.

Lieutenant Rohler and Detective Turpen went to Stephanie Sprang’s residence on Magers
Road and were given consent to search and seize items that belonged to Stephanie.
These included her computer, three toothbrushes, a yellow bag with various papers
inside and several other items including jewelry, such as a ring with a missing stone.
Stephanie’s stepfather’s truck was also searched for items that might have belonged
to her.

* * *

Special Agent Joe Dietz of BCI&I was very busy on November 13. Around 11:00
AM
he arrived at the Target Distribution Center in West Jefferson, Ohio, where Greg
Borders worked, and met with Chris Grieser, the logistics senior group leader at that
location, to verify Greg Borders’s presence at work on Wednesday, November 10.

Chris told Agent Dietz that the facility was very secure, that each employee had to
scan ID cards at various security points, and that once inside the facility, employees
were not allowed to leave until the end of their shifts. Chris also told Dietz about
security cameras at all entrance and exit points of the building, and agreed to contact
the personnel/human resources supervisor and have them come in to access the video
and records on Greg Borders.

While waiting for the video evidence to be obtained, Dietz went to the Urbana, Ohio,
residence of Patrick Sandy, one of Greg’s coworkers at the Target Distribution Center,
to meet with him and his wife. Patrick told Dietz that on Monday, November 8, he and
Greg had indeed made plans to go golfing on Thursday, November 11.

Patrick related that he’d made online reservations to play at the Tree Links in Bellefontaine,
Ohio, and that because of its distance away, he’d invited Greg to stay overnight at
his house on Wednesday, November 10. Patrick said that Greg had arrived around 5:15
PM
that night and had called earlier from a Speedway store to discuss what beer he should
pick up and bring over. According to Patrick’s cell phone log, that call had been
placed at 4:45
PM
. Patrick said that after Greg arrived, they’d watched TV until around 11:30
PM
, and then the next morning, they’d gotten up and went to play golf as planned.

Patrick confirmed that he and Greg were together playing golf at Tree Links for most
of the day that Thursday, November 11. They’d been joined by another friend, Nadeem
Siddiqui, who was a former Target employee. Patrick stated that he recalled Greg getting
a cell phone call around noon from his mother, who told him that Tina had not gone
to work the day before and was missing. It was not apparent to Greg or Patrick at
the time why Greg’s mom would know this fact. Greg told Patrick that he thought Tina
had taken the day off work. According to Patrick, Greg did not know at that point
that Sarah and Kody had also not shown up for school that day. All three men continued
playing golf until around 3:00 or 3:30
PM
, and then Greg left the golf course to return home. It was before he reached home
on King Beach Drive that his uncle contacted him.

Based on Patrick’s information, Agent Dietz went to the Speedway store in Urbana from
which Greg had reportedly called Patrick, and talked to the assistant manager, who
made him a CD of the store videotape from November 10 that covered 4:00 to 6:00
PM
. Dietz reviewed the tape, which confirmed that Greg Borders had been there buying
beer at 4:45
PM
.

Around 12:45
PM
November 13, Agent Dietz went back to the Target Distribution Center and met again
with Chris Grieser. Chris told him that a check of records, including card scans and
videos, showed Greg Borders entering the facility at 5:45
AM
on November 10 and leaving at 4:05
PM
that same day. Chris said that he spoke with the area manager who’d supervised Greg
on November 10, and the manager recalled that Greg had been at work throughout that
day.

* * *

By now news agencies out of the Mount Vernon area were interested in the developing
story, noting the law enforcement personnel guarding the perimeter of Tina Herrmann’s
house and the investigators coming and going, some of them wearing scrubs, gloves
and protective booties.

A reporter from the
Columbus Dispatch
was able to talk to Greg Borders in front of the house on King Beach Drive. He told
him, “I have a thousand things running through my head and I want some answers.” Greg
went on to say that he and Tina had recently broken up, but that they, along with
her children, were all still sharing the house they’d lived in since 2007. He’d heard
through others that on the day they disappeared, Tina and Stephanie Sprang had planned
to go out to look at some apartments and houses in the area.

Greg went on to recount how he had been out of town golfing on November 11 and the
first he’d known anything was wrong was when his uncle told him that there was police
activity at his residence.

Reporters were also able to contact Sarah and Kody’s father, Larry Maynard. He said,
“It’s like somebody ripped my heart out while it’s still beating. You have this kind
of thing on TV all the time, but it’s never your family. I’m no dummy. I know the
longer these things go on, the worse the chances. Sarah is a bubbly child and a star
athlete on the softball team. Kody is quieter and a good student who’s always on the
honor roll.”

* * *

Later that day, November 13th, Sheriff Barber held a press conference, an occurrence
that would become routine over the coming days. He began by saying, “On behalf of
the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the families of Stephanie and Tina, I’d like
to thank you in the media for assisting us as far as the four of them being missing.
The photographs [of the missing individuals] and things like that have been very helpful.
We’ve received some good information—so we appreciate the participation of you folks.

“Any kind of information we receive, tips and other things, are being followed up
by investigators. Evidence is continuing to be collected. BCI&I is not back yet, but
will be later on today, processing Tina’s truck, which was recovered near Kenyon College
on Thursday evening. They’re also processing the vehicle that belonged to Stephanie
that was found in the garage at the scene.

“It is our hope that evidence obtained from both of these vehicles, as well as evidence
that has been and will continue to be collected from the house, will lead to more
information as to their disappearance.

“We are asking people to keep a guarded but optimistic attitude about how the case
is going to unfold. We would constantly ask that everyone, not just in Knox County,
but in Ohio—well, they [the missing] do have friends and family outside of Knox County—we
would ask that on behalf of them and their families we all keep them in our thoughts
and prayers and hope for a positive outcome.

“What is taking place and will continue to take place today is that the aircraft that
you see overhead are from the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s aviation unit. They are
flying over this area, and they have infrared equipment and are checking some areas.
We also have officers on quad runners searching some areas around here.

“In the area around Gambier, there have been some citizen volunteers. They thoroughly
searched some areas on Thursday and Friday. We do hope these folks, if they do come
across something that looks unusual, they will stay back away from it and notify the
sheriff’s office immediately.

“If anyone sees something unusual or has any information about Sarah, Tina, Kody or
Stephanie, call the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Our detectives would also like to
have contact with anyone who may have had contact with any of the four of them any
time on Wednesday.

“We have talked to a lot of people that have had contact with them [before Wednesday].
Students at the East Knox schools where Sarah and Kody go to school. Folks like that.
What we’re trying to do is try and establish a timeline and try to find out if there
was anything unusual about the four of them. If they had any concerns about family
issues and things like that.”

Sheriff Barber then opened the floor to questions from the media. One reporter asked,
“Are the airplanes, helicopters and people on four-runners looking for anything specific?”

Barber replied, “We’re looking for anything or anyone that may have gone from Tina’s
house away from the scene.”

Reporters asked if the investigators were searching nearby lakes. Sheriff Barber answered,
“Yes, we have watercraft out today. And as potentially tragic as this week has been,
we have been blessed with good weather. That has definitely improved our chances of
locating evidence and locating those four people.”

He said they were searching Apple Valley Lake and that investigators from the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources had gone around the lake with scent dogs, though the
dogs had not picked up any indications that the missing people had been there. Barber
added that the lake was so large, it would be a waste of time to just send divers
out on a random search.

Another reporter queried, “Is it still just a missing person case?”

Barber answered that it was, and in response to a question about whether people in
general should be concerned, he said that, no, “people should just use common sense
as far as their children go and personal safety.”