THIRTY-FOUR

The Today Show

The Knox County Board of Commissioners drew up a resolution to ��Commend the Knox County Sheriff, Knox County Prosecutor and Knox County Public Defender regarding the horrific tragedy which recently befell Knox County.”

The resolution went on to state that the commissioners commended the investigation for rescuing Sarah Maynard and for the swift capture of Matthew Hoffman. The commissioners also commended “Sheriff Barber, Prosecutor John Thatcher and Public Defender Bruce Malek for enduring difficult press conferences before an audience of mass media. The dignity and respect that they displayed towards the victims and their families was both professional and compassionate.”

The resolution thanked Emergency Management Director Brian Hess for organizing and coordinating all the search efforts, and victims’ advocate Diana Oswalt for her efforts in counseling the family survivors. Last, the resolution thanked every citizen volunteer who helped in the search effort.

Even an attorney from Utica, Ohio, sent a letter to Prosecutor John Thatcher and Public Defender Bruce Malek, praising them for their common sense in the matter. The letter stated, “I’ve always said that there is more common sense in small towns than elsewhere and your handling of this case is a good example of the application of some good old small town common sense. I surely understand that both of you were and may continue to be subjected to pressures and criticism from the public and other sources but at very least you can find comfort in knowing that you did the right thing in some very, very difficult circumstances.”

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Some people call the time after these types of events a period of healing—but for Larry and Sarah, it was more a time of trying to come to grips with what had happened. With scars that ran deep and wide, they knew it was not going to be an easy task. Larry had nightmares almost every night, and they were usually the same. His children were missing and he didn’t know if they were cold or hungry. They were missing somewhere “out there,” but he didn’t know where the “there” was. He’d wake from his nightmares in a sweat, only to discover that reality was even worse than the nightmare.

As for Sarah, up until the sentencing, she would talk to her dad about what happened. Larry said, “She would always start at the beginning and go all the way through the story. It wouldn’t vary. She would never just talk about one part of it. It was always the full event from beginning to end. I would just let her go on in this manner for as long as she needed to. I knew that she had to handle things this way.

“Then after the sentencing of Matthew Hoffman, it was like turning off a faucet. She stopped talking about it altogether. It was as if she was determined to put it in the past. She didn’t want to waste any more energy on him. She focused on school and friends. She focused on her new family life in a new home.”

Larry continued to avoid calls from news reporters and television talk shows. Bit by bit the media frenzy that had surrounded his house dissipated. This, at least, was a relief for him and his family.

Many television news programs and talk shows, however, were eager to interview Sarah and Larry Maynard on their shows. In the end, Sarah and Larry decided to be interviewed live on one show—the Today Show in New York. They liked the show and trusted anchor Meredith Vieira to conduct a fair and respectful interview. Larry said, “She came across as a nice person. Someone who would treat us with respect. She had a good reputation in the business and we liked the format.”

In February 2011, Larry and Sarah took off for New York City. Neither one had ever been there before, and they spent some time before the interview seeing the sights and downtown Manhattan, including the Empire State Building. Just being in the heart of the city was exciting for Sarah.

Later, sitting side by side on the television set of the Today Show, Larry wore a blue dress shirt and Sarah looked sophisticated in a black dress and white sweater. Her hair was elegantly styled, and she looked very different from the girl who had been rescued on a bed of leaves in Matthew Hoffman’s basement.

Before the interview began, the show ran a segment about the events of November 2010, including photos and video clips of the story as it had developed. Then Meredith Vieira began the interview by stating, “Sarah, I think that you are an incredibly brave young lady given everything that you have gone through. And I want the audience at home to know that this is something you wanted to do, you wanted to come forward and speak out.” Vieira said that she knew Sarah was seeing a grief counselor in Ohio, and then asked why Sarah wanted to be on the show that morning.

Sarah said, “To let people know how I could survive what he did to me. So I just listened to everything he told me to do . . .” and then her words trailed off.

Vieira picked up with, “And you got through it.” Then she asked how Sarah had stayed strong through her days of captivity.

Sarah replied, “Just hoping someone would find me so I wouldn’t have to live with him—or stay with him there.”

Vieira then said that she knew Matthew Hoffman had bound her hands and feet. And he also stated in his confession that he made hamburgers for her to eat. Vieira asked, “Was he trying to befriend you, or was he constantly threatening you?”

Sarah answered, “No, I think that in that letter [Hoffman’s confession] he was just trying to make people think that he felt good about himself. To think that he fed me and stuff, and he didn’t. He didn’t let me shower or do any of that stuff.”

Vieira asked if Hoffman had kept her down in the basement the whole time, and Sarah said that was basically the case except for short periods in the closet and bathroom when she’d first been taken to the house. Then Vieira asked Larry if it had been a nightmare for him during those four days, not knowing where his son or daughter were, or any of the other missing people. Larry replied, “Oh, yeah! It’s still a nightmare every day knowing that part of your family’s not with you.”

Vieira mentioned how Matthew Hoffman’s confession stated that it was just a burglary gone bad, to which Larry reiterated his belief that it was not. “A thief steals, a murderer kills,” he said, adding that if Hoffman had been there merely “to burglarize the house, why did he stake it out the way he did? Why did he purchase a knife online a week prior to making an entrance into the house?” Larry was sure that Hoffman’s motive for entering Tina’s home was not to burglarize it, but rather to kill because he was angry at the way things had turned out in his life. Especially about losing his job and losing his girlfriend. And Larry also believed that Hoffman had seen Sarah in the past, and intended all along to kidnap her. And to that end, he was able and willing to kill anyone who got in his way.

Vieira then mentioned to Sarah that she’d seen photos of Hoffman’s house filled with leaves, and the strange drawings in the bathroom. She asked, “Did he say anything about why the house was filled with leaves?”

Sarah answered, “He told me that someone helped him bag the leaves. He said he wanted to make my bed comfy. So he just put leaves there so I could sleep on them.”

Vieira said to Larry, “You know that the sheriff has said that Sarah is the epitome of bravery.”

Larry replied, “Definitely. You know, she’s even an inspiration to me. As her father, I’m supposed to be the teacher of the children, but I think she’s taught me far more than I could possibly ever teach her about life.”

Turning to Sarah, Vieira asked why Sarah wanted to be in court on the day that Matthew was sentenced. Sarah answered, “I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t scared of him. I just wanted to get on with my life.”

Vieira then asked, “What keeps you strong, Sarah, and so positive?”

Sarah replied, “Just making my life go on and not thinking of what happened in the past.”

Vieira said to Sarah, “We’ve learned about your mom and brother, that your mom was a real hardworking lady and put you and Kody above everybody else. What do you want people to know about your mom and your brother?”

For the first time in the interview, Sarah smiled. She had been very serious up to that point. Sarah said, “My mom, she took really good care of us and made sure we had food and heat and clothes. And Kody, he was just a really good brother, even if we fought a lot.”

Vieira replied to that, “Well, that’s what brothers and sisters do. I know they’d be proud of you. You really are an incredible young lady.”