A Quarter Century of Questions: The Disappearance of the 3 Missing Women
By: David Oliver
Posted: May 31, 2017 10:07 PM CDT Updated: May 31, 2017 10:20 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD,Mo. -- Twenty-five years ago a missing persons
case would unravel in Springfield that remains a mystery, prompting a quarter
century of questions.
It was June 7, 1992, when Stacy McCall, Sherrill Levitt and
Suzie Streeter would vanish without a trace. The three missing women case has
perplexed people for years. It's perhaps Springfield's coldest case.
We're going to revisit many aspects of this story over the
next several nights as we hit the quarter century mark of the women's
disappearance. Up first, a look back at what happened that night through
the memories of a mother.
"Stacy this is your mom. Please call me at home.
Bye," says Janis McCall in a 1992 phone message.
Phone messages of concern that would grow into fear on the
night of June 7, 1992. That night 18-year-old Stacy McCall and
19-year-old Suzie Streeter graduated from Kickapoo High School.
"After all the graduation stuff we went out to eat.
And, then Stacy went home with us and she immediately started changing clothes
and I said, wait, you can't change clothes yet, we've got pictures out
back" recalls Janis McCall, Stacy's mother.
Stacy would oblige her mother's photo request, then met up
with Streeter so the two could attend planned parties to celebrate
graduation. After making several stops, the girls returned to Streeter's
home that she shared with her mother, Sherrill Levitt. But from that
night on, Levitt, Streeter and McCall would never be heard from again.
"We had no idea there was a crime scene there, you know
that you don't expect it you're looking for your daughter and trying to find
out what happened" says McCall.
Janis McCall recalls going to Levitt's home 25 years ago and
finding the purses of all three women. There was no sign of a struggle, only a
broken glass bulb over the front porch light. Police believe the three women went
missing sometime between 2:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
"I remember when the police department came up and two
officers came in. And I explained what was going on. And I walked them through
the house. So, the officers said we're going to go outside and discuss this and
look around a little bit. And they looked all around the house and kind of down
the street a little bit. And when they came back in they said we're going to
file this as a missing persons case, foul play suspected" says McCall.
Janis McCall immediately began calling radio and tv stations
to spread word about the missing women. She made posters with pleas to help
bring the women home.
"I don't remember if it was that day or night that the
crime scene van was pulled in front of Suzie and Sherrill's house and that
yellow tape was put up saying crime scene. And not to enter," says McCall.
From that day on Janis McCall and her family were in
constant contact with police, tracking down leads and fielding phone calls with
tips that would most often lead nowhere.
"I remember the different calls that they would say
they had seen them. They said they had seen Stacy driving a little red sports
car down Battlefield. Well it wasn't Stacy it was our oldest daughter. I
remember calls that said they were cut up into pieces. I remember one
that said they were fed to the hogs. You know horrifying things for a mom to
hear," says McCall.
McCall went on to establish a network called One Missing
Link. It aimed to help other families with a missing loved one. It's not as
active today and she doesn't visit the police station as much anymore either.
But just as she's done all these years, Janis McCall still
holds out hope that one day we might learn the truth about what really happened
to Springfield's three missing women.
"If the police still follow every lead that comes in
and follow it to ends end one of these days we are going to find out because
somebody knows. The only thing my gut can say is that three women are missing.
They disappeared without a trace, I have no idea where they went, who took
them. You know I would absolutely love it if one of them called me" says
McCall.
Janis McCall says at one time all 32 detectives employed by
the Springfield Police Department were in someway dedicated to the case of the
three missing women.
We have several reports coming up over the next several
nights as we mark a quarter century of this cold case. We'll hear from
some of the original investigators, we'll look at false leads over the years,
and we'll hear from journalists about what it was like to cover the case of the
three missing women.
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