Burke nodded.
“If I give you my phone number, can you let me know if she’s okay? My mom is picking me up tomorrow after my last exam. I’ll be gone by eleven tomorrow morning.”
Burke pulled his phone out of his pocket. Even though he had her phone paired, he opened a text message. “Give me your number and I’ll put it in a text. I promise we’ll let you know. And if you do hear back from her before we find her, please let me know.”
“I will.”
When they were back in their car, Burke called Ops. Garcia was on and he would be overnight. Burke gave him everything Gabby had given them. He’d try to locate the house the camping trip had taken place at and identify Dave and pull info on Elly’s other brother, Eddy Forsander. Then they called Wilson and filled him in. Wilson told them to come back to the hotel. They’d all head north in the morning after the Digital Team had a chance to work on the info they’d just given them.
Quebec
Early the next morning, the team received a message from Shepherd to hold position and dial in for a video meeting at zero seven thirty. They all assumed the Digital Team had found something that warranted a briefing before they drove north. They were correct. Both Smith and Garcia were in Shepherd’s office when they connected to Shepherd’s meeting room.
Garcia had worked all night to narrow down the location of the house and property where the camping trip had taken place the previous summer. “The problem is in the limitations of geotagging when there are few cell towers to triangulate against or if the photo is taken in a metal building or under heavy tree canopies, the ability to rely on a satellite for location services fail,” Garcia said. “Those were the issues that limited our ability to nail down the location on the pics taken by Oliveira’s phone with the deleted Facebook pics.”
“We have the exact location the pics Elly took while canoeing, as they were in the open and the satellite geotagging worked as it should, but we believe they were downstream from the actual property. From what you relayed that Gabby Struck said, they were at a private residence, not a campground, so that sign that was captured in that one photo was probably not right where they stayed,” Smith added.
“I identified two large parcels of land upstream from where the river pics were taken belonging to someone in his forties or fifties with the name David,” Garcia said. “I’ll push the file through to you after this meeting. The first is David Greenwalt. He’s got a record of domestic abuse and a couple of DUIs from twenty years ago. He’s been clean since then. He’s forty-four years old and fits the profile of a prepper, maybe even a militia member. He’s pretty far off the grid with no social media presence. The second property is owned by Craig David, and I really hope he’s not the guy. He’s forty years old but looks a lot older. He has an extensive record of B and E, assault and battery, and weapons charges, and they’re all recent. This guy’s bad news and has been for a long time. He shouldn’t even be walking the streets, not sure why he is.”
“Does he fit the profile of this group, Garcia?” Burke asked.
“Yes, and some of his record could be from the vigilante-style training the militia does,” Garcia answered.
“Or he could have found a home with the militia to be able to engage in the behavior he prefers, where it’s considered acceptable,” Shepherd chimed in. “We’ve reached out to the FBI, who have the other members of the Wisconsin and Minnesotamilitias in custody, to see if anyone can positively ID either of these men.”
“So far we have no identifiable overlap between either of these two men and the targets we’ve looked into from Lansing or the university,” Smith said.
“What did you get on Elly’s brother, Eddy?” Wilson asked.
“Edgar Forsander is no choirboy,” Garcia said. “He’s thirty-four years old, the oldest of the three siblings, and he’s had a few run-ins with the Detroit PD, which could be in relation to the militia’s vigilante training. He’s had arrests for possession of drugs, an illegal weapons charge, and assault and battery charges. He too has had nothing stick. Most charges have been dismissed or reduced. He has no social media presence and a practically nonexistent digital footprint. Not even a cell phone in his name. Probably carries a burner. His whereabouts are unknown.”
“He has a vehicle?” Tessman asked.
“Yes, a 2018 Chevy Suburban,” Garcia said. “It’ll all be in the file.”
Burke had to chuckle. Garcia sounded offended as though Tessman doubted the file would be complete. “That confirms the vehicle Gabby said they rode in to get to the campground property over the summer.”
“I don’t like the idea of either of these guys being around these young college girls,” Tessman said.
“It makes sense that a prepper or militia group would try to recruit college girls,” Garcia said. “Most of them are survivalists that truly believe society is going to fall apart or there will be a near extinction event. Given that, they need young, healthy women to breed with to keep the human race going.”
“I’m sure the college girls would think that’s totally gross,” Burke said with a laugh. “Gabby referred to this David guy as creepy. So that begs the question as to why Zoe bought into it more than her friend did and would walk away from her life for the group. I still think something else, something unrelated or loosely related, happened in Zoe’s life that drove her off the grid and most likely to hide out with this group.”
“I agree,” Shepherd said. “This group would want its members to be active in their normal lives, earning money and actively recruiting more members. In Zoe’s case, leaving school served no purpose to the group.”
“I don’t think we’re going to know what that was until we find Zoe,” Wilson said. “Garcia, which David do you think is more likely to be the one we’re looking for based on your review?”
Garcia frowned. “I honestly don’t know. They both fit the profile. If you run the two pictures by the Struck girl, she should be able to identify him.”
Burke looked at his watch. “She takes her last final this morning, not sure what time. If it starts at zero eight hundred, we won’t make it to her dorm before she leaves for class.”
“Run the pictures by her before you move on the targets. I’d rather you go after the right person than waste time with the wrong one, even if it means we delay in getting to the target if you can’t get positive ID until after her final exam is over,” Shepherd said.
Burke and Tessman both stood. “We’ll head there now and try to get that ID before she leaves the dorm.”
They drove over the posted speed limit and pulled into the parking lot beside the dorm at five minutes to eight. They weren’t surprised when there was no answer at Gabby’s door. The hallway was vacant. Tessman picked the lock, and the two men went inside to wait for Gabby.
At ten fifteen they heard a key in the lock, and the door opened.
