Link: http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/a-quarter-century-of-questions-detectives-consumed-by-the-3-missing-women/729381818
A Quarter Century of Questions: Detectives Consumed by the 3 Missing Women
By: Grant Sloan
Posted: Jun 01, 2017 10:04 PM CDT | Updated: Jun 01, 2017
10:04 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The case of the three missing women not
only captured the attention of community members, it consumed many of the men
and women working the case.
Even 25 years later, some of them still think about the
women daily.
We sat down with men who were on the ground from the
beginning and one officer who picked up the torch ten years into the
investigation.
"I wish we had solved that case back then, but I pray
daily that this case is solved before I leave this world. I won't have to get
up to glory to see the girls to see what happened," Retired Sgt. David
Asher with the Springfield Police Department said.
Asher helped lead the investigation into the disappearance
of Sherrill Levitt, her daughter, Suzie Streeter and Streeter's friend, Stacy
McCall (SP.).
Just days into their disappearance, Asher's team was tasked
with finding answers many detectives are still searching for today.
"My team and I worked days and nights and many many
hours. We were overwhelmed, we were confronted with issues we had never been
confronted with before," Asher said.
Some of those challenges are well known.
Among them, one of the most important pieces of any case,
the condition of the crime scene.
In the hours leading up to police being contacted, family
members and friends were inside the home trying to make sense of the situation.
"I'm not blaming anybody. A family is concerned is
going to do everything they can do," Asher said.
"Anytime you walk into a crime scene, you take
something in. Anytime you leave the crime scene you take something out,"
Ron Worsham said.
Worsham was the assistant police chief in 1992.
He says early on the department threw everyone and
everything at the case.
In those days DNA evidence wasn't used, but detectives did
use a fumigating technique to pull fingerprints from the home.
"And of course, we had thousands of prints at that
point and time...we didn't have the automatic print system at that time. So
really the only way prints did you any good back then is if you had a suspect
to compare them too," Worsham said.
There were also thousands of tips that poured in from the
community.
"Every tip that came in, you couldn't afford not to
check it out. Because any tip could have been credible," Worsham said.
Investigators went to great, and at times, unconventional
lengths following some of those leads.
A person was called in who claimed to be able to
communicate with the dog that was left behind.
A woman who provided information about a green van seen in
the area was hypnotized.
Investigators managed to track a phone call from the show
America's Most Wanted to a store in Louisiana.
"That person actually fit the description of some of
the information we had that could of been involved in the abduction. That
person was going to call back and never did."
Going to the public for help may have been a doubled-edged
sword though, as many of those interviewed by police were aware of the latest
information.
"It just gets a lot out there to where detectives might
be hindered in their attempts to solve it or follow up on leads property,"
Greg Higdon of the SPD said.
Springfield Police Captain Higdon brought a fresh set of
eyes to the case in 2001.
"It's very intimidating, I mean there were at that time
5,000 plus leads, going in a variety of different directions," Higdon
said.
Higdon re-interviewed family members and friends and combed
through evidence.
Before his promotion in 2006, he had filed more than 400 new
reports on the case.
"There were some that came in that were good leads,
other leads were maybe not a lot of information: Maybe a sighting or, 'I think
this person did it' or that person, but not much to go on," Higdon said.
"I think we did everything we probably could, but you
never know what you might have missed. That's always in the back of your
mind," Worsham said.
Worsham says in later years as sheriff of Webster County he
still followed leads on the missing women.
And, even in his retirement, as he hears of other missing
persons cases, many of the memories come back.
"I think about this case every day, today. Back in June
the 7th, 1992 is when it started," Asher said.
Each investigator has their own theories, only parts of
which they are willing to share.
"I firmly believe one of them was being stalked for
sometime before the crime was ever committed," Worsham said.
"I personally believe we have talked to that person or
persons responsible," Asher said.
While the answers are still unknown, the investigators agree
someone out there has the missing pieces.
"I will tell ya, that every person on the department
when I was there, I retired in 95, will be thrilled, and everyone involved in
this case since then will be ecstatic, that it would be resolved," Asher
said.
As we continue this in-depth look at the case leading up to
June 7, we will spend time Friday night examining the numerous false leads that
frustrated investigators.
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