The Nobody Girls (Kendra Dillon Cold Case Thriller Book 3), Rebecca Rane [best book club books of all time txt] 📗

PIO Shin closed his folder and walked out. There were a few shouted questions, but he was done sharing.

Judith would update WPLE listeners on the news of the day. Kendra wasn’t saddled with that responsibility.

She looked over the news release provided to the media. And then she looked up to the poster of Cynthia Hawkins.

Hawkins may have died like The Nobody Girls, but she hadn’t lived a life like they had. Not according to the materials provided to them today. Hawkins had a husband, and kids, and connections.

Kendra was on a mission to talk to them all.

Maybe this was the break they needed.

Before she could track down members of the Hawkins family, another element shook loose for Kendra’s coverage of The Nobody Girls.

Ned Wayne Ewald agreed to their request to conduct an interview.

After weeks of waiting and hoping he’d consent to it, Ewald said yes. On this, Kendra was way ahead of the pack of reporters who’d covered the FBI announcement. It had taken her a long time to put this in place, and she knew any new requests from media outlets would have to start at the beginning. Kendra felt like it might be a break that she needed in this season.

Kendra would travel to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility the next day. It was known as Lucasville to most since it was located in Lucasville, Ohio. It would mean another road trip, but Kendra was keyed up. The Cold Trail was about the victims, but getting Ned Wayne Ewald on the record was an element that didn’t exist as a possibility in a lot of their other seasons. For this one, the bad guy was already caught. Kendra was glad to make the drive and held on to hope, however unrealistic, that she could make the man confess.

For that, she’d have to be ready with every possible detail and inconsistency they could find about the cases.

Kendra and Shoop looked at the smart board and rehashed what they knew.

Linda Kay Ellis, found in Port Lawrence by hitchhikers in 1978, is believed to be the first victim. She’s the first dubbed a Nobody Girl since no one had reported her missing. Her bellbottoms were wrapped around her neck, her body wrapped in a garbage bag, and strangulation determined as the cause of death. She was beaten and sexually assaulted. Kendra looked at the crime scene photo. There was debris, the body, and ‘70s-style clothes, and somewhere in the horrible scene was the sister that Wilma Kay remembered.

Margo Kasinski’s body was found in 1979, near the Jellico, Tennessee exit. Her body was found in a culvert along the highway that had filled with water and then drained. Its condition made evidence collection difficult. No one reported her missing. What could be determined was that she was likely murdered two or three months prior to the discovery of her body. There were enough similar data points to flag Kasinski and Ellis as similar murders.

Sincere Anderson’s body was found in late 1980, near the truck stop Ophelia had told Kendra about. Her body was found in Michigan. No one claimed it. No one claimed her. Agent Price observed that the Anderson discovery was separated by a state and two years from Linda Kay Ellis. That time and distance muted any discussion of a serial killer.

In 1980, in Kentucky, Jane Doe One was discovered by weigh station worker Charlie Fairly. The circumstances match Linda Kay, Margo, and Sincere. There is no coverage on the news, or anywhere else Kendra and Shoop can find to indicate the public was concerned about a predator on I-75. Jane Doe One isn’t identified, still. Though Charlie Fairly’s account of finding the body, the debris, and the general conditions track with several previous victims. Deceased Special Agent Branson is assigned to all the cases.

In 1981, Susan Hodges was discovered outside of Cincinnati. Not much is known about Hodges. She is younger than the other victims, leading Agent Branson to note that she might be a runaway.

In 1981, at a construction site in Tennessee, Jane Doe Two is found. The situation would be mirrored decades later, at the High Timbers site. Jane Doe is not identified. Her physical description matches no known missing person. Two states away from the other body discovered in 1981, her case isn’t forwarded to the FBI until a year after her body was discovered.

In November of 1982, a road crew near Forsyth, Georgia, was called to remove what was called in as a dead deer near the highway exit. Krissy Jackson is identified as a sex worker. No one claims her body. Or reports her missing, according to notes made by Agent Branson. At this point, he speculates that they could have seven victims but does not claim this definitively. She is the last body to be discovered until High Timbers. Not one article published rings an alarm bell about what appears to be happening along I-75 at truck stops, gas stations, and diners.

Fast forward to today when authorities positively identify the bones discovered at the High Timbers Mall construction site. Kendra was there. Every detail was burned into her brain. All signs point to the fact that this was the last victim, murdered some time in the fall of 1982.

December of 1982, Ned Wayne Ewald is convicted of aggravated homicide and sexual assault.

Kendra and Shoop looked at the list. They’d only connected with two of the victims. The hopes of identifying the Jane Does were slim, but Margo, Susan, and Krissy were still open. If they kept digging, maybe they’d find relatives, or friends, like that had with Sincere and Linda.

“And all of it stops the moment he’s put behind bars,” remarked Shoop.

“Agent Price said the FBI, despite the lack of physical evidence or witnesses, believe very strongly that Ewald’s the guy. We have to go with that.”

“So how do you get him to cough it up, confess?”

“I don’t