On Monday, December 2, investigators arrived at Southwestern Bell Corporation on the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio. During the search of Sue’s work station, they found a time sheet. On it, her vacation time for that week was spelled out—she had planned to leave two hours early on Wednesday, November 27. There was no indication that she did not intend to be at work the Tuesday before that.
The officers listened to Sue’s voicemail messages, found documents related to her pending divorce and retrieved the last document entered on her computer. They also brushed against the heart and soul of Sue McFarland—a Disney Cruise Line folder that embodied her love of her children, and a list of books to read that included one prescient title, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, the story of a young girl who after her death sat in heaven and followed the lives of her loved ones on earth.
While Sue’s office was searched, Ann and Kirsten went to the Terrell Hills Police Department and got an update on the missing persons investigation. They did not pick up on the officers’ suspicions about Rick.
Then they went to the Cromack home to visit with the boys and talk to Rick. Timmy was up in the treehouse when they arrived.
He hollered down, “Auntie Ann, Kirsten! Our mom is dead.”
“We don’t know that,” Ann said. “That’s why we’re here—to help find out what happened to your mom.”
When they talked to Rick, Ann tiptoed around her questions hoping to find a logical but indirect and non-offensive path to the information she wanted from her brother-in-law.
Impatient, Kirsten butted in. “Cut to the chase. What the hell happened to her, Rick? What do you think happened to Sue?”
“She went to drop off some things in a not very good neighborhood. She went to drop them off and she was out of her car unloading stuff and she was seen by some Guido in a low-rider,” he said. “He came by, hit her on the head, abducted her and had his way with her. She’s been car-jacked.”
Ann and Kirsten noticed the cuts all over Rick’s hands and arms. He explained that he had been out jogging and ran into a bush. Then they asked about the missing tip on his little finger. Rick said that he was cutting something with a saw and the saw slipped. Rick then complained that the police weren’t doing anything.
“Have you given them permission to check stuff out—to search the house?” Ann asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, go down to the police station and find out.”
“Ann, would you go with me?”
“Of course.”
Since Kirsten wanted to be at the station, too, and Margot needed to leave her house, there was a question about what to do with the boys.
Rick thought it would be fine to leave them at Margot’s without adult supervision. The three women vetoed that idea.
Ann and Kirsten went to the Terrell Hills Police Department. Kate Kohl, executive director of the Heidi Search Center, called the station earlier and asked Sergeant Wedding to pass the center’s phone number on to the family. Ann and Kirsten did not call. They drove straight over to the center’s office in Windsor Park Mall. The staff overwhelmed the two women with the depth of their concern and understanding. “They were a guiding and calming force in a time of desperation, unknowing and fear,” Kirsten said.
Later that day, Sue’s supervisor, Gary Long, returned a call from Rick McFarland. Rick claimed he wanted to find anyone who had seen Sue on Tuesday. He said, “Until a body is found or Susan shows up, I am the main suspect.”
Rick also called Julie Speer. Three times he left voice-mail messages. Once he spoke to her husband. Every time, he requested that Julie give him a call. When she finally got back to him, she asked how he was doing.
“Bad,” he said. “What did you and Susan talk about?”
“Do you mean what did we talk about when I was there Wednesday?”
“Yes,” he said. “Did Susan mention where she would be going?”
“No,” Julie said. “Where do you think she might have gone?”
“Susan told me she was going to Amarillo with the boys. Me and the boys are always the last to know Susan’s plans.”
“What were you going to do when they left?”
“Since Susan is always nagging me about cleaning up the office, I decided to clean it. She harps so much about the office. What was the name of the mechanic you referred Susan to?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Me and Susan were looking at purchasing a car.”
“She didn’t mention that to me,” Julie said.
“She said a friend referred her to a mechanic. I liked a Jeep, but Susan liked a Suburban. So, of course, we were going to get the Suburban.”
“I don’t know a mechanic that could help with a Suburban.”
“What did Susan drop off for you Monday?”
“Susan did not drop anything off.”
Rick asked the same question two more times, despite her denial. The conversation was striking a dissonant chord that made Julie uncomfortable. Nothing Rick said felt spontaneous—it was as if he had a list of questions and was checking them off one by one.
“What can you tell me about the chair in the Explorer?” Rick continued.
“What chair?”
“The rocker. Why is it in the Explorer?”
Julie remembered that rocker—the one Sue inherited from her mother. It was broken and Sue had said Rick hated it. “I told her where to have it repaired,” Julie said.
On the morning of December 3, Rick, Ann and Kirsten met with the Heidi Search Center staff at the Terrell Hills Police Department for a briefing on the next steps. After that, the search experts got to work.
With a dog team from Greater Bexar Search and Rescue, Kate Kohl and Vanessa Hanes from the center covered the lot on Lazy Lane where the police found Sue’s Explorer. While they searched, the ever-efficient Mary Dry kept the phones answered and the center’s office opened and operational.
The dogs keyed in on the spot where Sue’s vehicle had been parked. This scent did not mean Sue had ever been to that location. It only meant that enough of her smell had drifted from the car when the door was opened for the sensitive noses of the search dogs to recognize it. The canines sniffed every square inch of the lot, but did not stir up any answers. The scent of hope was fading fast in Terrell Hills.