And Never See Her Again (7 page)

"Everyone keeps asking me how I feel," Sanderford sobbed into a pillow on her sofa. "How do they think I feel?"

Teresa tenderly put her hand on Audrey's shoulder. She understood the strain, the frustration her mother was feeling. She, too, was tired of the often repeated questions as to their own well-being. All they were interested in was Opal's welfare. Teresa and Clay had celebrated their twelfth wedding anniversary during the turbulent days following Opal's abduction, but their thoughts were constantly with the missing child.

"The best present would be to get Opal back," Teresa told reporters.

May 19, 1999, nearly two months after Opal Jennings's kidnapping, the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) profiled Opal's abductor in hopes of generating new leads.

The FBI profile detailed ten major characteristics of the abductor, believed to be a white or Hispanic male. It was believed he was familiar with the Saginaw area and had a propensity for impulsive and violent behavior. The kidnapper was also believed to have changed his appearance since the abduction by cutting or coloring his hair and removing or growing facial hair. He may have sold the vehicle used in the abduction, changed its appearance, or displayed an unusual interest in cleaning it. Authorities thought the man was living alone at the time of the abduction and that he would have found reasons for being absent from work or for missing other scheduled appointments or social functions during that time. The profile concluded that the man may have found an apparently legitimate reason for leaving the area after the abduction, that he may have moved or changed jobs. He probably also had changed his eating and sleeping habits and become more nervous, irritable, preoccupied, and withdrawn.

"Hopefully, there's someone out there who can put this together and will know the person who did this and give us a call," Agent Craig Olson stated, following the announcement of the FBI's profile. Only time would tell if someone knew a person that fit the general description and displayed any or all of the characteristics mentioned.

There had been someone who had recognized the description of Opal's abductor, even before the FBI released the scientific profile. Jesse Herrera, Wise County probation officer, believed the man who took Opal Jennings was his probationer, thirty-year-old Richard Lee Franks. After watching Franks leave the probation office, six days after Opal's kidnapping, Herrera had telephoned his friend Sergeant Harlon Wright, the sex offender registrar for the Wise County Sheriff's Office. It was another ten days before Wright called a church friend, Fort Worth police lieutenant Mark Krey. Krey, supervisor of Fort Worth's violent personal crimes division, passed the information on to the FBI.

Herrera's tip sat in a box among more than twentyfive hundred information sheets that contained possible leads in the OpalJennings abduction. Investigators were busy running the leads, as well as locating and interviewing about two thousand registered sex offenders residing in Dallas and Fort Worth. There hadn't been time to expand inquiries to neighboring counties, such as Wise County.

At the time of Opal's abduction, there were 17,235 sex offenders in the Texas Department of Public Safety database. Registration requirements for convicted sex offenders were more stringent after the 1993 killing of seven-year-old Ashley Estelle, of Plano, and the 1996 slaying of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman. And state lawmakers had agreed to make registration even more severe with public newspaper notices published to let residents know where sex offenders lived and would include the offender's specific address and photograph. Offenders were required to register within seven days of moving into a new neighborhood, and those convicted of sex-related crimes would be evaluated as to their risk of committing another sex offense. Their risk level would determine how intensely they would be supervised. But with all the safeguards built into the system, no one could know when a sex offender would reoffend, or whom he would choose as his victim.

For the next four months the search continued for Opal Jennings and her abductor. The leads that had been fed to the FBI were systematically researched, and anyone suspected of the heinous crime had been eliminated. Frustrations were mounting within the Saginaw community, as well as the law enforcement population.

In late July 1999, Assistant Chief Mike Adair, a twenty-year veteran investigator with the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, assisted the task force by taking some of the leads, one of which was a person known to be Richard Lee Franks.

After talking to Jesse Herrera at length and making several inquiries concerning Franks, the assistant chief investigator drove to Franks's residence in South Fort Worth on August 3, 1999. Ricky Franks was not at home, but Adair had an opportunity to speak with his wife.

Adair simply told Judy Franks that he needed to talk to Ricky, with no explanation of why. Adair left his business card, requesting Franks call him to set up an appointment. Within forty minutes Adair's phone at the Tarrant County District Attorney's Special Crimes Unit rang. It was Franks. He agreed to meet Adair at his house the following day.

As Adair approached the simple reddish brick house Franks shared with his wife and in-laws on Sheridan Street, Adair noticed a black Mercury Cougar and a white Chevrolet parked in the driveway.

The Franks lived in a working-class neighborhood where vehicles were parked on the street and in the yards, rather than in the one-car garages attached to the houses.

The yard of the Frankses' house was scattered with white metal lawn chairs, a wood and iron bench, and a concrete birdbath adorned with a terra-cotta squirrel. The large sprawling tree in the center of the front yard held a white iron birdcage. Adair suppressed a grin as he noticed the wooden yard art displayed near a front window. One was of a man bent over, the other of a woman, her ruffled panties showing.

The veteran cop stepped on the front porch of the house, walked past empty flowerpots, and knocked on the screen door.

Adair, slightly taller than Franks with a heavier frame than the thin suspect, took a mild-mannered approach. Franks wasn't under arrest and at no obligation to speak to Adair. The investigator's relaxed style immediately put Franks at ease.

"Are you familiar with the Saginaw area?" Adair asked without explanation of the reason for his inquiry.

"Yes. I'm familiar with Indian Creek and Jacksboro Highway," Franks responded.

Adair considered Franks's answer. Although adjacent to the City of Saginaw, neither Indian Creek nor the Jacksboro Highway were within the city limits, giving Adair reason to believe Franks was unfamiliar with the area in question.

"Ricky," Adair said, noticing the short haircut described by Jesse Herrera, "have you ever worn your hair long, perhaps in a ponytail?"

"I've worn it long enough to pull it back in a ponytail at times," Franks responded.

"How long ago was that?" Adair questioned.

"I cut it about four or five months ago," Franks replied.

Adair concluded his interview with Franks without mentioning the purpose of his visit to either Ricky or Judy Franks. He didn't say he was investigating the Opal Jennings abduction or that Franks was a possible suspect. Adair left the Frankses' residence without incident but with the determination to continue to investigate the convicted sex offender.

Surveillance of Franks began almost immediately. Between Mike Adair and Danny McCormick, the two observed Franks's habits and behaviors for nearly two weeks. The two investigators spoke with Franks's brothers, known associates, and followed him as he went about his daily routine. One thing that both investigators noted, Ricky Franks was rarely without his wife.

Other DA investigators were busy researching Franks as well. Kathy Manning, a former Fort Worth police officer who had been with the DA's Special Crimes Unit for seven years, checked with the municipal court liaison officer and learned that Richard Lee Franks was wanted for an outstanding traffic ticket. It was a simple failure to wear a seat belt, but Franks's failure to pay the ticket had resulted in a warrant for his arrest. Four days later, August 17, 1999, Manning double-checked with the court officer to make certain the outstanding warrant was still in effect.

At 7:30 A.M., August 17, Kathy Manning and Danny McCormick were parked outside Ricky Franks's home. As they sipped their coffee, they watched for any movement, any indication that Franks was leaving the residence, just as they had done the day before.

In an effort to avoid detection, the investigators' car was parked down the street from Franks's home. Manning's blond hair gleamed as the sun streamed through the car window. McCormick's familiar Western hat was perched atop his cleanly shaven head. The two had been on many stakeouts, and although they chatted to pass the time, the seasoned investigators never took their eyes off the target.

Franks emerged from his residence, along with his wife. Dressed in blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and sneakers, Ricky drove away with Judy in a black Mercury Cougar. Following close behind the Frankses, the investigators observed the couple as they ran several errands. They made no attempt to apprehend Ricky. They simply waited. At last, early that evening, investigators had the opportunity they had been hoping for. Franks, who had been with his wife throughout the day, dropped Judy off in front of her parents' house on Sheridan and drove to a convenience store at Altamesa and 1-35 for a pack of cigarettes. He was finally alone.

Franks, unaware that his every movement for the past few days had been scrutinized, stepped from his car.

Suddenly a car with Gary Philibert, Celeste Rogers, and Charlie Johnson, all DA investigators, pulled in behind Franks and blocked his vehicle. The three in- vestigatorsjumped from their unmarked car, ordered Franks to put his hands on his vehicle, and placed him under arrest.

Franks appeared stunned and confused. He offered no resistance to the three plainclothes officers. Within seconds, Mike Adair, along with Danny McCormick and Kathy Manning, had joined the others. Franks's hands were swiftly placed behind his back. The distinct click of the steel handcuffs secured around his wrists rang in Franks's ears. Patrons of the convenience store gawked.

Ricky Franks was quickly led to Charlie Johnson's county-issued vehicle and carefully put in the backseat. Accompanied by Johnson and Manning, he was taken to downtown Fort Worth and the offices of the Special Crimes Unit. Housed in the old district attorney's offices, the Crime Unit occupied one entire floor of the old Tarrant County Courthouse. It wasn't a jail but a place where Franks could be interviewed without interruption.

At Franks's Fort Worth home, Judy Franks fretted over her husband's unexplained absence. He had only gone down the street for a pack of smokes-why hadn't he returned? She had no idea her husband of five years had been taken to an interview room in downtown Fort Worth and was awaiting interrogation by one of the area's top interviewers.

Ricky Franks was placed in a small corner room furnished with a desk and chair. The handcuffs were removed for his comfort.

"Are you okay?" Danny McCormick asked Franks.

"Yes," Franks stated.

"Do you need anything?" McCormick inquired.

"I'd like a Dr Pepper and a cigarette," Franks replied.

"Do you want anything to eat?" McCormick asked.

"No."

"Ricky, we want to talk to you about Opal Jennings," McCormick explained.

"I don't even know how to get to Saginaw," Franks blurted out. McCormick stared at the suspect questioningly. He had never mentioned Saginaw. Franks's outburst was totally unprompted.

'We need you to take apolygraph," McCormick stated.

"Okay," Franks responded.

"And we'd like to search your car. Will you give us consent to do that?" Kathy Manning asked.

Franks agreed. Within minutes McCormick returned to the small room with a consent-to-search order. Franks scrawled his name across the bottom, and the signature was witnessed by Mike Adair.

Kathy Manning left the office where Franks was sitting to make a photocopy of the Miranda warning. The small 4-by-6-inch green card was often difficult to read, therefore Manning enlarged it for Franks's benefit. When she returned with the larger-sized Miranda, McCormick slowly read each of the suspect's rights, having Franks initial after each one to show that he understood. Franks also gave verbal acknowledgment of his understanding of each warning, signed at the bottom of the page, and dated the form.

McCormick left momentarily to get the suspect a Dr Pepper.

"Would you like to call your wife?" McCormick asked.

With Franks responding that he would, McCormick made a phone available and Franks telephoned Judy. She had no idea where he was being held. No idea how long it would be before she would be allowed to see him, post bond, and take him home. All Judy Franks could do was wait for further word from her husband.

McCormick explained that someone was on his way to talk with him, and asked Franks if there was anything else he needed. For the next hour and a half, Ricky Franks remained alone in the small office. Periodically McCormick would inquire if he wanted anything to eat or drink or needed to use the bathroom.

The door leading to the room where Franks waited was left partially open. McCormick could see the suspect fidget with his cigarettes, play with the ring top of the Dr Pepper can, and twist nervously in his seat.

"Hey, what is this guy going to ask me?" Franks questioned McCormick. "What do you know about all this?" The wait was beginning to get to Franks. His nerves were fraying, his confidence wavering.

McCormick, too, felt the strain of waiting for the interviewer's arrival. He knew it was best not to question Franks. They wanted the interviewer to take control of the examination. They needed Franks to give him his first reactions to the questioning, but it was difficult for McCormick to stay away. For the most part, Ricky Franks sat in isolation, smoking cigarettes and drinking Dr Pepper. He wasn't interviewed or questioned by anyone from Special Crimes.