deep regard for the young engineer. “But we work with Carla and we think very highly of her and we sure didn’t want to give up on the search if there was any chance at all for success.” He added sadly, “But we didn’t realize what success meant.”
“So you guys kept on with the search?”
“Yes. We just didn’t want to give up. There was something in both of us that kept urging, ‘Stay with this’ and we just couldn’t give up—no matter what. We went deeper into the woods just combing, combing through the brush. Off and on there were others who were also scouring through the woods, fellow workers at Centex Rooney, various persons from the sheriff’s department, and even Jim Larson. We watched Jim, poor forlorn guy. He just groped along silently with Carla’s rottweiler; he looked so troubled. No one really knew what to say to him.” He paused and shook his head. “What can you say to the guy at a time like this? Then we met a fellow, Tommy Sparks, who works for Disney security and we talked with him, explaining what we were doing. He said that the other day, I guess he meant June tenth, he was surprised to see a white vehicle parked amidst the trees and bushes back behind a pond. He pointed out very specifically where he had seen the white vehicle.
“Mike and I figured that there might be something to that, so we walked around that section. Pretty soon we got an uneasy feeling. There was something in the air and then it became really pungent. It was a foul odor and was overpowering. I said, ‘What’s that awful stink?’ I couldn’t remember ever smelling anything that bad. And Mike said, ‘Something’s dead.’ And I said facetiously, ‘Or someone.’ He looked at me and I was afraid to think what was in his mind. I didn’t want to project or speculate in my own mind.” He shook his head.
“We couldn’t locate where it was coming from, so Mike lit his lighter. I thought that was a pretty smart thing to do. He watched the flame, judging the direction from which the wind was blowing, carrying that foul smell. Mike motioned to me, indicating the wind course. We turned and followed the flicker for about twenty feet, until we came to a huge spread-out palmetto bush. We stopped and I said to Mike, ‘You go around that side and I’ll circle around the opposite way.’ And that did it.”
Ricker’s expression changed as he recalled their shock at what they saw on the other side of the brambly brush. “I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. But there it was, the body. Mike came up and stood beside me. He couldn’t speak. And I didn’t know what to say. It was like a nightmare where you couldn’t move or talk or do anything. It was one of those moments when you wished that you could magically be somewhere else.”
Munson said, “I never saw anything like it in my life. I could see that the body was naked and there was an old raggedy blue towel thrown over her. Her hair was over her shoulder and she lay there facedown.” He stopped and swallowed. “We just couldn’t stay there; we had to get away.”
“That’s when you called us?” Weir asked.
“No,” John Ricker corrected, “we were so upset that we rushed back to our car and sped off to our office.” His face reflected the horror he felt with their discovery. “Your headquarters was then called and notified about our discovery.”
By this time a horde of OCSD personnel spread out over the critical section, securing it with the yellow stretch tapes restricting it to authorized officials only.
Shortly after 11:00 P.M ., medical examiners Dr. Shashi Gore (an ME with long experience of seeing bodies of every size, color and origin in every conceivable condition) and Dr. Max Blue arrived, along with their investigator, Dean Smith.
With the aid of improvised lighting provided by the Orange County Fire Department, ME Gore examined the body. The doctor professionally noted that the white female body had blond hair
“So you guys kept on with the search?”
“Yes. We just didn’t want to give up. There was something in both of us that kept urging, ‘Stay with this’ and we just couldn’t give up—no matter what. We went deeper into the woods just combing, combing through the brush. Off and on there were others who were also scouring through the woods, fellow workers at Centex Rooney, various persons from the sheriff’s department, and even Jim Larson. We watched Jim, poor forlorn guy. He just groped along silently with Carla’s rottweiler; he looked so troubled. No one really knew what to say to him.” He paused and shook his head. “What can you say to the guy at a time like this? Then we met a fellow, Tommy Sparks, who works for Disney security and we talked with him, explaining what we were doing. He said that the other day, I guess he meant June tenth, he was surprised to see a white vehicle parked amidst the trees and bushes back behind a pond. He pointed out very specifically where he had seen the white vehicle.
“Mike and I figured that there might be something to that, so we walked around that section. Pretty soon we got an uneasy feeling. There was something in the air and then it became really pungent. It was a foul odor and was overpowering. I said, ‘What’s that awful stink?’ I couldn’t remember ever smelling anything that bad. And Mike said, ‘Something’s dead.’ And I said facetiously, ‘Or someone.’ He looked at me and I was afraid to think what was in his mind. I didn’t want to project or speculate in my own mind.” He shook his head.
“We couldn’t locate where it was coming from, so Mike lit his lighter. I thought that was a pretty smart thing to do. He watched the flame, judging the direction from which the wind was blowing, carrying that foul smell. Mike motioned to me, indicating the wind course. We turned and followed the flicker for about twenty feet, until we came to a huge spread-out palmetto bush. We stopped and I said to Mike, ‘You go around that side and I’ll circle around the opposite way.’ And that did it.”
Ricker’s expression changed as he recalled their shock at what they saw on the other side of the brambly brush. “I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. But there it was, the body. Mike came up and stood beside me. He couldn’t speak. And I didn’t know what to say. It was like a nightmare where you couldn’t move or talk or do anything. It was one of those moments when you wished that you could magically be somewhere else.”
Munson said, “I never saw anything like it in my life. I could see that the body was naked and there was an old raggedy blue towel thrown over her. Her hair was over her shoulder and she lay there facedown.” He stopped and swallowed. “We just couldn’t stay there; we had to get away.”
“That’s when you called us?” Weir asked.
“No,” John Ricker corrected, “we were so upset that we rushed back to our car and sped off to our office.” His face reflected the horror he felt with their discovery. “Your headquarters was then called and notified about our discovery.”
By this time a horde of OCSD personnel spread out over the critical section, securing it with the yellow stretch tapes restricting it to authorized officials only.
Shortly after 11:00 P.M ., medical examiners Dr. Shashi Gore (an ME with long experience of seeing bodies of every size, color and origin in every conceivable condition) and Dr. Max Blue arrived, along with their investigator, Dean Smith.
With the aid of improvised lighting provided by the Orange County Fire Department, ME Gore examined the body. The doctor professionally noted that the white female body had blond hair
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