And Never See Her Again (10 page)

Agent Keefer again left the room, and once again Ricky Franks started crying and shaking uncontrollably. McCormick leaned forward, hands flat on the desk,

where Franks sat, and asked Franks what was the matter.

Without saying a word, Franks grabbed the ink pen from McCormick's pocket and started drawing on a napkin. It appeared to be a map.

"Describe for me what you're drawing," McCormick instructed.

Franks stopped his drawing and looked up at McCormick.

"My family is going to think I'm some kind of `sicko,' but I want you to understand that it was a terrible accident," Franks said, tears still wetting his eyes.

"What happened, Ricky?" McCormick asked in a soft tone.

Franks said he had put Opal in the water under some trees, where he used to fish for crawdads when he was a kid. He told McCormick it was by the rodeo grounds in Saginaw, where two tunnels went under the highway. Franks said there was a cable that kept people from driving all the way to the tunnels, but he parked his car at the cable fence and that is where he put Opal in the water.

'Was Opal moving, or was she hurt bad?" McCormick asked.

Franks couldn't speak. He was crying harder than before. Once he caught his breath, Franks expressed his fear about what his brother Rodney and the rest of his family would think about him.

"How bad was Opal hurt?" McCormick pressed. "Pretty bad," Franks responded through his tears. "Will you take us out to where you put Opal in the water?" McCormick asked.

"Yes, if I don't have to see you get her out of the water," Franks said.

"If you show me where it is, I'll get her out of the water and you won't have to watch," McCormick assured Franks.

"I will," Franks stated. "But you know she might not be there anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"The water there gets to flowing pretty high when it rains and she might have washed away," Franks explained.

"We'll go see," McCormick responded.

Leaving Franks in the interview room, McCormick went into another room and phoned Special Agent Andy Farrell, of the FBI. He informed Farrell of what Franks had said about leaving Opal in the water and asked Farrell to meet them at the location Franks had given them.

Franks left the Special Crimes office with McCormick and Tarrant County Sheriff's deputies Beckham and Ramirez. Assistant Chief Mike Adair and Agent Keefer followed in Keefer's car.

As the caravan reached Main Street in Saginaw, McCormick asked Franks how to get to the location where he had left Opal. Franks directed them to make a left at the road that led to the rodeo grounds. As they drove through the gate, several media vans and trucks were parked across the rodeo grounds, waiting for them. Franks appeared nervous at the sight of the reporters. His demeanor changed. He instructed McCormick to drive toward several large mounds of dirt. Franks pointed out the cable fence and showed McCormick where he had parked the day he claimed he had taken Opal to the location.

Leaving the car at the mouth of the two tunnels, Franks and the officers walked down to take a look.

Glancing around, McCormick asked, "Where are the trees that you put Opal under?"

"This place doesn't look right. I'm not sure if this is the place or not," Franks said. "Can we go over closer to the park that has the Stop-n-Go store?"

The deputies, investigators, Agent Keefer, and Franks got back in the cars and drove over to the park on Longhorn Street.

"Make a right at the park," Franks instructed.

The deputy turned the car on Thompson Street toward Bryan Swingler Park.

"Stop here," Franks said. "This is where Opal fell down and busted her nose."

McCormick shook his head. Franks was back to telling the story that Opal had run from his car and down to the bank of the creek, where he had seen her for the last time.

"What about putting her in the water by the trees?" McCormick said with a degree of irritation.

"Those are the trees right there," Franks said, pointing at some trees in the creek.

But Franks now said Opal ran into the creek, that he hadn't put her there.

"Where is the quarry from here?" McCormick asked.

"That's it," Franks said, pointing to the creek.

McCormick decided to take a different direction. "Will you take us to Opal's house?" he asked.

Franks agreed. As McCormick drove down Main Street, Franks was quiet, but as McCormick was about to make a turn, he spoke up.

"No. No, not here. Go down to the next street," Franks said. It was Lemon Street, which intersects with North Hampshire, at the northwest corner of the Sanderfords' property.

Franks identified the location as the place where he had stopped and talked to Opal. He also pointed out the Sanderfords' vacant lot as the site where the other children had been playing when he first talked to Opal. Finally, after driving on what seemed to be a wild-goose chase, Franks had correctly identified the scene of Opal Jennings's abduction.

Following the path Franks gave them as his exit from the Sanderfords' neighborhood, they took a right on North Hampshire to Northern Street, a right on Main, and eventually a right on Longhorn to the park, where he had taken McCormick earlier. Finally they returned to the Special Crimes office in downtown Fort Worth.

"Will you call Rodney for me?" Franks asked McCormick.

"What do you want me to tell him?"

"I want to make sure Rodney knows that what happened was an accident and that I didn't do it on purpose," Franks stated.

A few minutes passed before Franks asked McCormick another question. "Do you think I could take another polygraph? I think I could beat this one."

"I'll check and see," McCormick said, "but I don't think you'll pass it." The detective knew Franks had shown deception on all four questions asked him concerning Opal's disappearance.

"I always do better when I get a second chance," Franks admitted.

"I'll check, but what will you do for me if you take it and fail?" McCormick asked.

"If I fail, I'll tell you the truth."

"I'll check," McCormick said as he left the room to speak to Special Agents Farrell and Keefer, and to Assistant Chief Adair. They all agreed to call the polygraph examiner.

McCormick returned to the room where Franks waited, informed him he would let him take another polygraph, and reminded him what he said he would do for McCormick if he failed the test a second time.

"I'll give you good news. You'll be happy, but I think I can beat this one," Franks said with confidence.

"Are you tired? Are you ready to stop the interview?" McCormick asked.

"I'm not really tired, but if you are, we can stop until tomorrow," Franks answered.

The next morning, Ricky Franks was brought back to the Special Crimes office for a continuation of the interview. Before they could begin, McCormick received a phone call from Tarrant County chief deputy district attorney Greg Miller. Attorneys Leon Haley and Edward Jones had been retained to represent Ricky Franks. Miller instructed McCormick that he needed to call the attorneys and let them know where their client was. He provided McCormick with the attorneys' phone numbers. Miller also instructed McCormick to tell Franks that two attorneys had been retained to represent him and to ask if he still wanted to take the polygraph.

McCormick, along with Kathy Manning, gave Franks the information that his family had hired an attorney to represent him and asked him he still wanted to take the polygraph, or if he wanted to talk to his attorney first. Franks told McCormick he wanted to take the polygraph first, then talk to the attorney.

Following Miller's directives, McCormick then phoned Ed Jones, telling him where his client was being held and giving him directions to the Special Crimes office. Ed Jones said Leon Haley was in his office and they were on their way. He instructed McCormick to cease interviewing Ricky Franks until they were present.

McCormick didn't return to the interview room where Franks waited. Franks never took the second polygraph.

While Ricky Franks was smoking cigarettes, drinking Dr Peppers, and talking with Eric Holden, then with Danny McCormick and Lori Keefer, FBI agents were diligently and thoroughly dismantling Franks's car. The black Mercury Cougar, with black landau half roof, showed years of rough wear. A pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror was reminiscent of the 1950s. The back left panel above the rear tire was deeply dented and the back bumper severely marred. A piece of metal hung loosely from the left side of the broken rear license plate holder. The plate itself displayed a small Texas flag, just to the right of the state's name, and a white star on blue background with broad white-and-red stripes.

Inside the trunk, agents found normal paraphernalia such as a tire iron, jumper cables, and a dusty toolbox. A large red-and-white school stop sign was stored in the trunk-a shocking item to belong to a convicted child molester. Although Franks's wife, Judy, was a paid school crossing guard, agents could only imagine the threat of such an authoritative tool in the hands of someone as dangerous as Ricky Franks.

Overall, the unkempt condition of the vehicle reflected the owner's known image.

Once the initial run-through of the exterior and interior of the vehicle was complete, the FBI agents began a more thorough exploration. The Cougar was carefully vacuumed inside to catch any fibers, hairs, or tiny objects that might have been missed in the first examination. Before removing the seats, as well as the dashboard and console, the entire interior was sprayed for any sign of blood or semen. Latent fingerprints were lifted. By the time the agents had finished their two-day extensive scrutiny of the vehicle, they had removed the door panels, seats, and carpet, leaving no more than an interior shell of a car.

All evidence, no matter how minute, was transported to Lab Corps in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, for testing. If Opal Jennings had been in Ricky Franks's car, the agents would find any telltale signs that may have been left behind. But, as dirty and unkempt as Franks's vehicle appeared, investigators knew that he'd had nearly five months to clean the car extensively any number of times. And, in Texas's hot-often 100 degree or more-summer weather, it was very possible that any DNA, fingerprints, or other organic materials could have been destroyed by the elements.

In addition to the Cougar, investigators obtained a search warrant to explore Franks's residence for tools that could have been used in disposing of a body, clothing that Opal was wearing the day she disappeared, a red baseball-style cap reportedly worn by Opal's abductor, and any type of container that could have been used to transport or store the girl's body.

While investigators searched for those items at Franks's residence, they found a pair of bloody car mats in the single-car garage. Judy Franks was quick to offer an explanation, stating she believed the blood was hers, the result of a December 1997 motor scooter accident that cut her arm and caused her husband to rush her to the hospital. She explained she had received stitches as a result of the incident. "The doctor said it was so deep, he could put his finger down in it,"Judy told investigators.

Along with the floor mats, fifteen pieces of evidence, including a hair clip, red bead, a sledgehammer, a lawn mower blade, a toy helicopter, a partial roll of duct tape, a rug, a spare tire, cables, a box of tools, a crowbar, a tire jack base, and an empty bottle of lighter fluid were collected at Franks's home, along with a doll that Mrs. Franks claimed belonged to her daughter. All pieces of evidence were sealed and sent to the FBI lab for testing. The items would be tested for fibers, DNA, or blood linked to Opal Jennings.

As FBI agents moved from room to room in the modest, small brick home, one agent noticed a stack of spiral notebooks casually lying to one side. Flipping through the books, he paid special attention to the March 1999 entries. Not a part of the search warrant affidavit, the notebooks were not seized; however, the judicious FBI agent snapped photos of the pages marked March 25, 1999, and March 26, 1999. No one knew how important any snippet of information might be later, or how it might be linked with other known intelligence.

With Franks's statement in hand, the Special Crimes Unit presented their evidence to a Tarrant County judge and obtained an official arrest warrant for Richard Lee Franks. The suspect hadn't left the Special Crimes office since his apprehension for the seat belt violation; however, it was imperative that procedures be followed to the letter.

Once the news broke that a suspect was in custody for the kidnapping of Opal Jennings, the media frenzy became as intense as when Opal was first abducted. Throngs of newspeople crowded the steps of the Tarrant County Justice Center, all wanting every detail of the arrest and the identity of the alleged perpetrator. They soon learned the name of Richard Lee Franks, a name that would be on their lips for months, even years to come.

For most of the eighteen hours that Franks had been held at the downtown Fort Worth location, Judy Franks and her in-laws had been frantic. When Ricky had called Judy and told her he was being held for questioning in the Opal Jennings case, Judy was both shocked and dismayed. She notified her husband's family and they, in turn, contacted local defense attorney Ed Jones to represent Franks. Judy immediately went on the offensive in defending him.

Judy Franks revealed to the media that her husband confessed, not because he was guilty of the unthinkable crime, but because he was scared and confused by the investigators' relentless questioning. She claimed that same fear as the reason for his poor performance during a polygraph examination.

"I know he didn't do what he is accused of, or is getting flamed with, because I go everywhere he goes," Judy Franks stated. "He says things he don't mean to say."

Judy claimed she and her husband were together at their South Fort Worth home most of March 26, miles away from Saginaw.

Tears pooled in Judy Franks's eyes, mascara blackening the skin below her lower lids as she insisted authorities had the wrong man.