Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (28 page)

“I want to do
that,” the young ranger responded. “I know we don’t really have any concrete
evidence at the moment, but I do share your feeling that something is going on
here that deserves a closer look.
 
Anything I can do to help I will.”

Lin was happy
to have such strong support from Mark.
 
“You mentioned to me that you’d been too busy keeping up with day to day
concerns to look into past records and cases.
 
When we spoke with Olivia Lee, she
mentioned that Bryan had expressed concern about the growing number of unsolved
deaths shortly before he was killed.
 
He may have been looking into some things, and, if he was, maybe there
might be something in his old files—if they’re still available.”

“They will be,”
Mark said. “We have stuff back at least five years in the district office.
 
I’ll see what I can find.”

Lin ended the
conversation and turned to Sue, “ Mark has convinced one of the FBI agents to
at least listen to what we have to say about these cases.
 
No promises, but at least we can talk to
him.
 
Mark has also agreed to look
into Bryan Lee’s old files and see if he can find anything there.
 
This is Wednesday and the FBI agent is
willing to talk to us on Sunday morning.
 
That gives us three days to make sure our information is good enough to
convince him to look into these cases.”

“Then we have
our work cut out for us,” Sue seemed to relish the challenge, “We’d better get
to work.”

At that point neither
Lin nor Sue felt like calling it a day.
 
It was almost nine, but they were both excited at the prospect of
talking to the agent and realized that a lot hinged on whether or not they
could present a convincing case for further investigation.
 
Sue put on a fresh pot of coffee, and
they both changed into their PJs so as to work in comfort.
 
They went down to Sue’s basement office.

The next hour was
spent reviewing Sue’s research notes as well as the information she’d recorded
following their conversations with folks close to the cases.
 
Lin was able to add her own observations
and insights to the mix.
 
Finally
they were able to produce a list of basic facts about the cases, observations,
and questions.

The
Cases

·
     
From August, 2008 until May, 2012 there have
been six deaths recorded that occurred along or near the Blue Ridge Parkway
roughly within the area between Milepost 277 and Milepost 260.
 
All were judged to be homicides.
 

·
     
Two of the cases are considered closed, that
of a hiker killed on a trail in September, 2008, and that of Sandy Hill, a
graduate student killed a month earlier near the same area but not on a hiking
trail.

·
     
The person deemed responsible in both these
cases was killed by police in a shootout in Florida where he was found along
with the car he had stolen from the hiker.
 
No physical evidence was discovered that linked the killer directly to
Sandy Hill.

·
     
The most recent case in May 2012 resulted in
the death of university student Peter Dunne and the wounding of his companion
Ellen Clark.
 
This case is currently
still under investigation by the Watauga County sheriff’s department.

·
     
The remaining three cases are still unsolved
but are not currently under active investigation.
 
They include: (1) Sara Fletcher, the
pregnant girlfriend of Luke Taylor who was found shot and beaten in October
2009. (2) An unnamed victim whose partially dismembered body was found dumped
along the parkway in February 2010. The body was later identified as that of a
cattle farmer missing from a nearby community (Perhaps the name was withheld
from press accounts to protect the family’s privacy). (3) Bryan Lee, a law
enforcement ranger with the park service, who was shot and killed in the
parking area at Jeffress Park in March 2010.

·
     
The only witnesses in any of these cases
were some park visitors who saw a man with a long gun sitting at a picnic table
in the park.
 
They reported this to
the park service and Bryan Lee was sent to investigate.
 
The visitors went on a hike to the Cascades.
 
They heard a shot as they were
returning.
 
When they reached the
parking lot they discovered the dead body of Ranger Lee, but the man they’d
seen earlier was gone.
 
They were
unable to provide a good description of the man they saw, and he has never been
identified.

Observations

·
     
No physical evidence was ever found directly
linking the death of Sandy Hill to the suspect killed in Florida.
 
A key piece of evidence, her camera and
possible photos, remains missing.
 
Without such key evidence there is doubt that Sandy Hill’s killer was,
indeed, the same man who killed the hiker.

·
     
Jack Davis, a friend of Sandy Hill, also
expresses doubt that her case has been solved.
 
He expressed the opinion that Sandy saw
someone doing something, possibly illegal, while taking plant photographs.
 
Her presence was discovered and that led
to her death.
 
He believes the
missing camera is the key to her case.

·
     
Sara Fletcher was the girlfriend of Luke
Taylor.
 
Both Luke and Sara’s
mother, Mildred Fletcher, have expressed the opinion that Eustace Hinson,
Luke’s grandfather, who was opposed to Luke’s plan to marry Sara, killed the
girl.

·
     
Olivia Lee, widow of Bryan Lee, has said
that Bryan had expressed concern about the unsolved killings around the parkway
shortly before his death.
 
She also
spoke about Eustace Hinson’s reputation as a mean person who often got into
confrontations with others, although she had no information that would
specifically connect him to any of the cases.

·
     
In the most recent case, still under
investigation, Eustace Hinson actually confessed to shooting and killing Peter
Dunne and wounding his friend Ellen Clark.
 
Hinson also confessed to other killings that were not specified by
authorities at the time.
 
Subsequently, Hinson, who suffers from dementia, changed his stories and
recanted his confessions.
 
The court
deemed his remarks inconsistent, and his confessions were ruled
inadmissible.
 
He was declared
incompetent due to dementia, and no criminal charges were pursued.

·
     
Olivia Lee also expressed frustration that
authorities seemed not to be willing to actively continue the investigation of
her husband’s death.

·
     
A prime suspect in the most recent case,
Stefan Kovich, has not been charged with the killings because the only evidence
is circumstantial.
 
He is currently
being held by federal authorities for visa violations and faces likely
deportation.
 
At this point no other
charges have been filed against him.

·
     
Since they began to do research and ask
questions about these unsolved crimes, Lin Hanna and Sue Gray have been
threatened and their residence has been attacked on two occasions.
 
Once someone shot at the front door,
breaking a large vase, and later someone tried to loosen boards on the back
steps, perhaps in an effort to have someone fall and be injured.
 
Sue Gray shot at the intruder on that
occasion, but it is unknown whether or not the person was hit.
 
Authorities have not charged anyone with
these acts.

·
     
While visiting the area where Sandy Hill was
killed, Sue Gray and Lin Hanna had an encounter with Eustace Hinson who ordered
them to leave the area, claiming they were on his property.

·
     
Recently, while traveling on Hwy. 421 in
foggy conditions near that same area, Lin Hanna had a near accident when a
truck pulled out in front of her.
 
When she pulled off the road for a moment, she met one of Eustace
Hinson’s sons.
 
Apparently he was
the driver of the truck.
 
He made no
threats, but, when he discovered whom she was, he made some remarks about her
being to blame for his father’s not being committed to a secure home where he
could be cared for.

·
     
Local authorities have not arrested anyone
for the vandalism at the Gray-Hanna residence.
 
In fact, investigation into these events
appears to have been limited.
 
Deputy David Winkler has implied that his staff doesn’t have time to
pursue such incidents on an ongoing basis and has further implied that the
actions of Sue Gray and Lin Hanna in looking into the unsolved crimes have led
to their harassment.

Questions:

·
     
What evidence led local authorities to
determine that Sandy Hill was a victim of the man killed in Florida, thus
closing that case?

·
     
What evidence, if any, was discovered in any
of the investigations? Why were no charges brought?

·
     
Had Bryan Lee investigated any of the
deaths? Did authorities check his files for any information? If so, what did
they find?

·
     
Have authorities sought any evidence of
Eustace Hinson’s behavior in any of these cases?
 
Could such evidence support or clarify
any of his “confessions”?

·
     
What is going on in the area where deaths
have occurred? Did Sandy Hill see something?
 
Did authorities search that area in
investigating her death?

·
     
What was Eustace Hinson doing in that area
when encountered by Sue Gray and Lin Hanna?
 
Was he alone?
 
How did he get there?

·
     
Why was one of Eustace’s sons leaving a
parking lot near that same area on a foggy night?

·
     
Where does Stefan Kovich fit in this
picture?
 
Is he guilty of killing
Peter Dunne and shooting Ellie Clark?
 
Is all the evidence against him purely circumstantial?

It was close to midnight
when Lin and Sue finished compiling their list.
 
They were more than ready to call it a
day; Sue had a day off on Thursday, but Lin was expected to work. They were
both off on Friday. They agreed it was best to let the list ‘rest’
overnight.
 
Tomorrow, when they were
fresher, they could review what they’d written and decide how to proceed from
there.

Despite the late
hour and the fact that she was already dressed for bed, Lin decided to shower first.
 
It would save her time the next
morning and might help her get to sleep. The water warmed her body and soothed
her tired limbs.
 
She felt herself
relaxing, her thoughts gradually turning away from the work she and Sue had
been doing.

Once in the bed,
however, Lin found her thoughts returning to the observations she and Sue had
recorded and the questions they’d raised.
 
Suddenly, it hit her.
 
There
was one of those questions she and Sue might be able to answer for
themselves.
 
The more she thought
about it, the more she realized what they needed to do next.

***

The misty, foggy
weather was still evident the following morning; the weather forecast called
for such conditions through much of the weekend with heavier rain showers
occurring intermittently.
 
Lin was
up a bit earlier than Sue so she put on some coffee before dressing for
work.
 
She’d just finished preparing
some oatmeal for breakfast when Sue appeared in the kitchen.

“I had trouble
going to sleep last night—thinking about the things we’d made note of and
considering what to do next,” Sue said as she poured herself a large mug of
dark roast.

“Me, too,” Lin
replied. “In fact, I have some thoughts about what we need to do next.”

“Well, I know what
I’m doing next—first thing this morning,” Sue sounded determined. “I’m
going to show up at the sheriff’s department and I’m going to get some
answers.
 
I’m going to push for
information about the incidents we’ve had here at home. I also thought I might
call Ellie Clark.
 
First of all, I’d
like to find out how she’s doing, and I also thought she might have heard about
Kovich’s deportation hearing.”

“She might have
remembered more about what happened the day she and Pete were attacked,” Lin
added. “Please give her my regards.
 
I hope she’s doing well.”

“Now it’s your
turn,” Sue sat down at the table with her coffee while Lin ate her breakfast.

“I thought that we
might be able to answer at least one of the questions we raised.
 
I think we need to revisit the place
where Sandy Hill died, where we encountered Eustace Hinson.
 
Jack Davis thought Sandy saw something
in the woods.
 
I know that was
almost four years ago, but I’d like to see if there’s still any evidence of
what she might’ve seen,” Lin was serious. “We’re both off tomorrow and I think
we should head up that way—rain or shine.
 
Our meeting with the FBI agent is just
around the corner, so it’s important we get all the information we can before
then.”

“Are you
sure?”
 
Sue asked. “That might be
dangerous if anything or anyone is there.
 
Are you sure you’re ready to revisit that spot?”

Lin took a deep
breath, “Yes, I think it’s time and I do realize we need to be very
careful.
 
Actually, the weather
might be on our side, less chance of someone being out there.
 
If anyone is out there, they wouldn’t
likely be expecting anyone else to be around on a bad day.
 
Besides, we’re just going to look for
signs of activity.
 
We won’t try to
confront anyone.
 
If we spot anyone,
we’ll quietly walk away.”