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.