Early Thanksgiving morning, Charlene Schooling awoke to an annoying sound. She got up and peered out her windows and listened. Not a lawnmower. Not a trimmer. It was a circular saw, she thought. And it’s coming from the McFarland house.
Charlene didn’t know it at the time, but she was probably hearing the sound of Rick cutting up the love seat that sat in the master bedroom on the wall next to the bath. The discovery of charred springs in the trailer with Susan’s body made it a possible scenario. Did Rick destroy it because Sue was so fond of it? Or because he never cared for it? Or did it need to be obliterated because it was covered with evidence of a violent attack three nights before?
The love seat—a legacy from Sue’s mother—was never seen again after that day. Before Sue disappeared, it was her favorite spot to sit and read stories to her boys before they went to bed.
When Wesley Miller went over to the McFarland house to jump on the trampoline, his mother, Carrie, told him to come back in five minutes. “We have family Thanksgiving things to do and the McFarlands do, too,” she said.
When Wesley did not return as instructed, Carrie sent her teenage son Billy over to get him. The front door was answered by Timmy. Inside, the house was dark and gloomy. Timmy yelled for Wesley, but got no answer.
Rick McFarland—in blue jeans and no shirt—opened a door at the top of the stairs and said, “The kids are playing in the backyard.” Then he stepped back into the room and closed the door behind him.
Billy went around back and asked William what his family was doing for Thanksgiving.
“Nothing,” William said.
Wesley wanted to bring James home with him for Thanksgiving dinner. Billy told him he couldn’t, then took his little brother home.
That afternoon, Rick called Dee Ann Dowlen’s cell phone. “Who is this?” he asked.
“It’s Dee Ann Dowlen, Rick.”
“Oh, happy Thanksgiving. I thought this was George’s phone,” he said. Then he went on to explain that he was setting up his phone book on his DSL. He was getting the DSL going because Susan didn’t like not having a computer at home. Switching subjects, he asked, “Thank you for the three cheese pizzas from Little Caesars.”
“Rick, why would I send you pizzas for Thanksgiving?”
“I don’t know. It said ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ on it and I thought it was from you. The pizzas came on Tuesday.”
Wanting to end this nonsensical train of conversation, Dee Ann asked, “How is your Thanksgiving going?”
“Kind of funky. The pizzas came on Wednesday. Could I speak to Susan?”
“Rick, you know Susan’s not here.”
“She wasn’t here, so I thought she might have come up there. William said she was going to Amarillo.”
“The kids are with you, right?”
“Yeah. I’m just hanging out with the boys.”
“Susan wouldn’t come without the boys. She cancelled her plans to come to Amarillo on Monday,” Dee Ann said.
“What do you think is going on with Susan?”
“I’m not the person you should be talking to about this, Rick.” Dee Ann balked at giving any other response, because she did not know if Susan had told Rick about her divorce plans or not.
It was almost 6 P.M.—nearly fifteen hours after being informed of the discovery of his wife’s car in a vacant lot—before Rick managed to show up at the police station to file a missing persons report. He was wearing white canvas work gloves—they appeared brand new—and a long-sleeved jacket.
He told Corporal Delgado that his wife was supposed to be in Amarillo on Monday. Later in the conversation, he contradicted himself, saying that Susan told him on Monday that she would be going to Amarillo later in the week. The last time he saw her, Rick said, was at 9:30 on Monday night when she left the house to deliver gifts to friends in the area. He claimed she never came home that night and he had not seen her since.
It struck Delgado as quite odd that three nights had passed without Rick making any effort to locate his wife. Rick then claimed that he’d jogged to the area where Piccolella told him where he could locate the car, but was unable to find it. Delgado led the way to the Explorer as Rick followed him in his Windstar van. As Delgado approached the area on Lazy Lane, he realized Susan’s SUV was in plain view—in the exact location that Piccolella described. He did not believe a jogging man could have run down this way and not seen the vehicle.
Delgado looked at the Explorer and saw a wingback chair, several plastic storage bins, a child’s car seat, a gift basket and other items inside, but did not see any obvious signs of foul play. Rick stood in the lot some distance from his wife’s car and stared for ten minutes. He never made a move to approach the vehicle. Then he said, “I have three young children at home and I want to go home and care for them.” Delgado said he would call him at home if anything was found.
When Delgado called he said he would like to visit Rick. Rick insisted that he did not want any police coming to his home. He’d come by the police station the next day. Rick did not ask if his wife had been found and expressed no interest in any clues or leads the police might have uncovered.
As soon as he got off of the phone, Rick went through the house turning off all of the lights.
That night, Delgado called his friend Charlene Schooling. “Do you have some time to gossip?”
“About what?”
“Your neighbors.”
“Which ones?”
“The McFarlands.”
“Oh, him,” Charlene said in a derisive tone.
“No. Her.”
“Susan?”
“Yeah. She’s missing.”
“What do you mean, missing?”
“Rick reported her missing this evening.”
“What?”
“We thought she was in Amarillo, but we found her car off Ivy Lane.”
“What?”
“The key was in the ignition.”
“What?”
“And the car was unlocked.”
“Where are the boys?” Charlene asked.
“With Rick.”
“Something is wrong. She would not have gone without the boys.”
About 2 A.M., Piccolella picked up Charlene and took her down Ivy Lane to Lazy Lane to Sue’s Ford Explorer. Charlene walked around the vehicle and peered through the windows explaining what she recognized and what struck her as odd.
“He’s done something with her,” she said after her inspection. “Do not let him have this car.”
“We’ve already made arrangements for him to pick up the keys tomorrow.”
“Do not let him have those keys. Please. Something is wrong here.”