Was it evidence?
It had been tagged for processing by the forensic cops.
I am Tara Dawn Mae. My name used to be-
Was this an unfinished message from one of the victims?
Kate immediately searched the name online.
In seconds, the results matching her query appeared, offering pages of headlines and excerpts that stunned her:
Canadas Cold Case files
Tara Dawn Mae was last seen at a truck stopnever seen again
Royal Canadian Mounted Police-MISSING
Tara Dawn Mae was 10 years old when she vanished from
Brooks Prairie Journal-Mystery Disappearance Haunts
It has been twelve years since the disappearance of Tara Dawn Mae, and neighbors in the tiny farming community try to remember
FIND THE MISSING KIDS
Tara Dawn Mae. Age at time of disappearance: 10. Eyes: Brown
Kate continued searching, finding a police summary of the case.
Tara Dawn MAE Cold Case Files
Location: Brooks, Alberta, Canada
On July 7, 2000, Tara Dawn MAE was ten years of age and living with her parents, Barton Mae and Fiona Mae, on their farm near Brooks, Alberta. After shopping for groceries in Brooks, the family stopped at the Grand Horizon Plaza, a large and busy truck stop along the Trans-Canada Highway.
While Barton purchased gas for the family pickup truck, Fiona and Tara entered the facility to use the restroom. While browsing the food court and gift shop, Tara got separated from her mother and was never seen again.
An exhaustive investigation has failed to yield any leads as to Tara Dawn MAEs location or details as to her disappearance.
Kate then found a webpage showing several photographs of Tara. There she was smiling in a full-face shot. Next, a formal head-and-shoulders school portrait, and then Tara with a puppy and laughing.
Tara looks so much like Vanessa.
Deep in a corner of Kates heart, something cracked, a thin ray of hope emerged and she blinked back her tears. She needed to know more about this case and how it was connected to Rampart.
Kate reached for her phone and called Anne Kelly, with the New York office of the Childrens Searchlight Network. Anne alerted Fred Byfield, one of the groups investigators.
Ill get in touch with our sister networks in Canada, Fred said after listening to Kate. Ill get back to you as soon as I can.
Kate continued researching. Again and again she came back to the pictures, haunted by the little girls sweet, shy smile, her dark eyes, shining like falling stars.
Could this be Vanessa?
Kate used maps and made some calculations. Their accident happened about ten miles east of Golden, British Columbia, when their car left the highway and crashed into the Kicking Horse River. That was some 270 miles west of Brooks, Alberta, a five-hour drive across the prairie and through the Rocky Mountains.
Vanessa would have been twenty-six now. If Tara Dawn Mae is still alive, as the message in Rampart suggests, shed be around twenty-five or twenty-six now, as well.
Was it all coincidence?
Kate went back to the crime scene photos.
My name used to be-
What was her other name?
Was Tara Dawn the Maes biological child or an adopted child? Kate couldnt find any divorce records on public sites. Maybe Tara Dawn was a street kid whod run away and changed her name? It was not uncommon. Kate knew that, from her time on the street. Kids were always running from something.
As she continued working throughout the day she came across an in-depth article done on the third anniversary of the case that stopped her cold. It said that Barton and Fiona Mae had adopted Tara Dawn about three or four years before her disappearance.
Adopted?
Kates mind raced.
She tried searching for court records, knowing that they werent usually made public, a fact confirmed when she called the clerks office for Albertas family courts in Edmonton, the capital. Kate was thinking of hiring a Canadian private investigator to help her dig deeper into the case when she realized the time.
She had to pick up Grace from school.
Theyd passed the remainder of the afternoon with Grace coloring a project about the worlds oceans and chatting about her day while Kate got supper ready. Whenever she could, Kate thought about the case. That evening while they were watching The Wizard of Oz, Fred Byfield called.
Kate, I talked with our people in Calgary affiliated with our network and I dont have a lot more to add.
Ill take anything, even advice.
Kate patted Graces leg and left the sofa to take the call in the kitchen.
Canadian police still have it listed as a cold case.
Yes.
No real leads, nothing at all, and both of the parents have since passed away.
I didnt know that about the parents. Howd they die?
Accidents, maybe, were not sure but did you know that Tara Dawn was adopted?
Yeah, I found a magazine piece that mentioned it. Any details on that?
I dont know, and our source in Calgary didnt know.
Kate considered the information.
So what do you make of these factors? Is it Vanessa, Fred?
When you add them up-the necklace at the scene, the carved message from Tara Dawn Mae, the dates, ages and the fact they never found Vanessas body-they do present a compelling argument that your sister was at the Rampart crime scene.
But? I detect a but in your tone.
But, you know as well as anyone, real life is not like mystery books and thriller movies where it all ties together nicely. Real life is complicated and missing persons cases can be complex. Simple factors that appear to be connected often have explanations proving there is no link whatsoever.
Yes, I know.
And theres no DNA from Tara Dawns case to compare to yours, at least none that we know of. And we dont know what Rampart police know, or what they may be telling the RCMP in Alberta about their case. Now youve got to decide what youre going to do next. I think this warrants further investigation and well help you as much as we can.
Thanks, Fred.
Kate returned to the movie, sitting next to Grace. As Dorothy followed the yellow brick road in her quest to get back to Kansas, Kate searched for the right path she needed to take.
You were talking about Aunt Vanessa on the phone, Grace said. I could hear you say her name.
Yes, I was.
Is that why you went away the other day, to look for her again?
Kate looked at her and smiled. Grace was a smart little girl. Last year when shed turned six, the same age as Vanessa at the time she went missing, Kate had told Grace about the crash, how shed lost her hold of Vanessas hand, how theyd never found her and how she still looked for her everywhere. Grace understood, or seemed to, and Kate was okay talking about it with her.
Yes, honey, thats why I went away the other day.
After the movie, as Kate got her into bed, Grace asked her a question.
Are you going to go away again to look for Aunt Vanessa, Mom?
Im not sure. I have some time off from work right now, so Im not sure.
Maybe one day youll find her, Mom, just like Dorothy found her way back home to Kansas.
Kate smiled.
Maybe.
Later that night, as Kate continued researching, she couldnt help but think how her pursuit of the truth about Vanessa had turned into her own yellow brick road of doubt and defeat by dead-end leads. Kate was a reporter and, like a cop, needed facts. What she had now were puzzle pieces, and what she needed to do was keep digging for more to see if they all fit. Kate found herself on airline sites checking flights to Calgary.
Kate called Nancy.
After telling her everything, after explaining her situation, Kate was still unsure about leaving Grace, about the whole idea of going to Canada, with her job situation and everything else.
Theres no question you have to go, Nancy said. This is part of the fabric of your life, of who you are. How would you live with yourself if, after all thats happened, you never did all you could to find the truth about your sister because youd left a big stone unturned? Go. Ill take care of Grace.
Five minutes later Kate booked a flight to Calgary.
14
Rampart, New York
Pathologist Morten Compton sat at his desk in his basement office at Rampart General and reviewed his notes on the two deaths at the old burial grounds.
Weve got to nail down the ID on the male. And the cause of death.
Weve got to nail down the ID on the male. And the cause of death.
It was late and as Compton worked he started wheezing again. His wife had warned him to cut back on the meatball sub lunches at Sallys Diner and to drop a few pounds. The job stress didnt help.
Comptons temporary assistant, Marsha Fisher, whod gone for the day, had left him a summary.
Detective Brennans extremely anxious for updates.
As you know Dr. Hunt made dental charts, which weve circulated with no results so far. If the male victim had a dentist, it appears he didnt visit one recently or locally.
One potentially positive new aspect: the forensic unit at the scene recovered a military dog tag in the vicinity of where the male was found. Ive attached a photo of it. Ive submitted it to the militarys National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis with an urgent request for comparison of our dental chart with the dog tag info. You should be hearing back anytime now.
Compton clicked on the image.
The dog tag was charred and twisted metal, but the information was clear to read. The name was: Pollard, J.C., blood type was O positive, followed by the Social Security number, and other information.
Compton stroked his Vandyke.
Were there more victims?
The blood type was the same as the presumed victim, Carl Nelson, but O positive was very common. The dog tag could have already been at the site and have no bearing on the victim. Then again, it could be a key piece of evidence.
Identifying a body this severely burned was always challenging. The face was gone, so identification by a relative or friend would not be possible. The hands were gone, so fingerprints were not possible.
Clothing was destroyed. No distinctive jewelry for the male had been recovered.
Compton had taken X-rays of the remains, hoping to find any medical implants or screws for a broken leg and such. Hed circulated them with doctors in the region. So far to no avail. And as far as the DNA went, he was unsure if, given the extensive damage to the body, the tissue sample hed submitted to various databases, including CODIS, the FBIs national DNA database, was viable.