The Girl in the Leaves Read online

  “They asked about the house, and their ears really perked up when I mentioned the garage door. They wanted to know why I mentioned something like that. I said I knew that it was broken and would not close all the way. The reason I knew that was because Tina had called me one time and said that Greg had broken it. He’d been angry or something and broken the garage door.

  “The detectives asked me where I’d been on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I told them. When it was all over they walked me out of the room, and one of them said to me, ‘Sorry we had to do that, Larry, but we had to ask you those questions.’ I knew they were checking me out and that was their job. All I wanted them to do was find Tina, Sarah and Kody.

  “On the way out to our car in the parking lot, I thought I saw Greg Borders sitting in a vehicle there in the parking lot. He was in the passenger seat, and I think his uncle was in the driver’s seat. I wondered what he was doing there.”

  Greg Borders was indeed there, and detectives also interviewed him. Greg explained that he, Tina, Sarah and Kody lived together at the crime scene address on King Beach Drive. Greg said that both he and Tina had a mortgage on the residence, though he added that, “Lately our relationship has not been the best.” He said that for the last few days he had been staying at a friend’s house, because he’d gone golfing out of town and it was far from Apple Valley. He’d stayed overnight at his friend’s house on November 10, golfed the next day and hadn’t known anything was wrong at home until he’d gotten a call from his uncle, who later told reporters, “I went past the house and saw the yellow tape. I called Greg, and he was on his way back. He’d been out golfing, [which was of course on November 11].”

  Later that day, November 12th, WBNS News from Columbus spoke with Greg Borders. According to the news account, “Borders said the couple was having trouble, but said he knows nothing and has done nothing wrong. He said he last saw Herrmann and her children around 4:00 AM Wednesday, before he left for work at a Target distribution center in West Jefferson. He received a message from her at 11:00 AM. Borders said that was the last time he heard from her.”

  WBNS News then spoke with Larry Maynard, and reported, “Larry Maynard said he is not so sure [about Greg Borders’ involvement]. Larry related, ‘The boyfriend, the live-in boyfriend, Greg—I don’t believe anything he says. My kids are my world. It’s like somebody ripped the heart out of me. I don’t want to believe that something has happened to them, but in my heart, I know something has happened to them.’”

  Oddly, the local news stations were trying to get news out of Larry Maynard, even though he was still depending on them for updates. Despite his interview at the sheriff’s office, that office was giving Larry very little information. On the one hand, he understood that—they had an investigation to do and didn’t want anything they said to him to jeopardize that. On the other hand, it was very frustrating to be kept in the dark.

  By now, even the national television news agencies were picking up on the story. ABC News reported, “A spokesman for the FBI Field Office in Cincinnati said the agency was aware of the incident but could not comment on whether it would cooperate with the investigation.” And ABC News also broadcast a statement from Sheriff Barber that “the search of the home has revealed it to be in an unusual condition for a place where a woman and children lived.” Barber did not elaborate on what that meant.

  * * *

  In the meantime, tips had started coming in. At first they were just a trickle, but soon they would become a flood. That trickle began on November 12th.

  One was from a woman named Tammy R, who said, “I saw a male at an auction on Saturday at Horn Road. He was wearing a yellow sweatshirt and approximately five-feet, eleven inches. He had dark hair, facial hair and stood back away from the crowd smoking. And on this same day I saw rolling black smoke coming from an area of the second barn on a property nearby. Like someone was burning a tire. No one was supposed to be there. Then later at night I saw a flash of light that came through my living room. I got scared and went upstairs. There was pounding on that property for sale nearby, as if someone was working on it. It sounded like it was coming from one of the barns.”

  Another tip came in to KCSO about a bloody tarp out in some woods in the area. Detective Sergeant Brown and Agent Winterich, who had been processing the crime scene, went to the patch of woods off of Beaver Road. Winterich documented later, “The tarp was determined to be home wrap [typically used in construction projects], and it was located approximately fifty feet from the roadway. A reddish-brown stain was visible and it was presumptively tested for the presence of blood using the chemical Tetramethylbenzidine. A positive reaction occurred.” But although there was certainly blood on the tarp, Winterich went on to say that “a HemDirect Hemoglobin test was then performed on the stain and this indicated that the blood was not human in origin.”

  One tipster, a woman named Patricia C, related, “My son called me and said Trisha [Stephanie’s daughter] was looking for Stephanie. Said she has been missing since Wednesday the 10. I went to the Dairy Queen to see if her friend Tina had seen her. I found out that Tina was missing too. I talked to Tina’s supervisor at work. We went to a rental where Tina and Stephanie went to look for a place to rent. No luck.”

  Soon there was another tip by a man named Brian K who contacted KCSO. Brian said, “As far as Stephanie’s vehicle being found in Tina’s garage, that is not unusual because she would put it there.”

  A tipster named Felicia W contacted KCSO on November 12 and related, “I last spoke to [Stephanie] on Sunday and she sounded fine. I was supposed to call her back Monday evening, but didn’t get a chance. She would never leave her home and kids.”

  * * *

  By now the FBI was involved, and the lead agent on the case was Special Agent Harry Trombitas of the Columbus, Ohio, office. His main activity on November 12 was interviewing people who lived close to the scene of the crime. Trombitas contacted neighbors on Magers Road and noted that although they were very cooperative, none of them had seen anything or heard anything suspicious before or during the time the crime was thought to have happened.

  Trombitas then contacted Mike Sprang, Stephanie’s ex-husband. Mike was also cooperative and said that he and Stephanie had been married for three years, but there had been “issues between them” and they got a divorce. Mike said that he had no animosity toward Stephanie and hadn’t seen her recently. He was worried about her disappearance.

  Next on the list were Ron Metcalf, Stephanie’s boyfriend, and Michael Kupiec, her older son, both of whom lived with Stephanie on Magers Road. Ron was noted as being “cooperative” and stated that Stephanie had stayed home on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, November 10, and said that they had had coffee together around 6:00 AM. Trish, Stephanie’s daughter, was in the house as well, but she was still asleep in the morning hours.

  Ron said that he’d left for his job at Rolls Royce Energy Systems in Mount Vernon at 6:30 AM and that everything was fine with Stephanie at that time. Around 12:26 PM, he received a text from Stephanie that indicated she was “in town.”

  Ron had been having a problem with a credit card account and he was having Stephanie help him with it. She called him on his cell phone at 12:46 PM to tell him that she didn’t have that account number and couldn’t help him at present. The call lasted four minutes and seventeen seconds. Ron told Agent Trombitas that was the last he’d heard from Stephanie.

  Ron also told Trombitas that he’d heard Stephanie had called a friend of hers named Forrest Frazee at 12:17 PM that same day. Forrest had not answered, and apparently Stephanie hadn’t left a message. Forrest thought this was unusual, because Stephanie had only texted him in the past and generally did not talk to him on the phone. Ron had gotten all this information secondhand from a person who knew Frazee.

  Ron then told Trombitas that he’d heard that Stephanie and Tina had planned
to go to a tanning salon in Mount Vernon around noon on November 11. Ron didn’t know if that had occurred or not. And he’d also heard they might be going out to look for a place for Tina in the afternoon. Ron added that he returned home at his usual time of 4:00 PM and was surprised when Stephanie was not there. It was very unusual because as Ron put it, “She was always there to greet her kids when they got off the school bus.”

  Ron was surprised enough that he texted Stephanie’s cell phone with a message, “What’s up?” He then got an indication later that the message was “unread,” and assumed that the battery in her cell phone had died.

  Agent Trombitas noted in his report, “Metcalf stated that he was aware that Tina and her boyfriend, Greg Borders, had issues, but did not elaborate.”

  Stephanie’s twenty-year-old son, Michael Kupiec was very cooperative and concerned about the welfare of his mother. Michael said he’d received a phone call Thursday morning from his sister, Trisha, who told him, “Mom’s missing!”

  Michael headed home and kept trying to reach his mom on her cell phone, but to no avail. Later in the day he got a call from Tina Herrmann’s boyfriend, Greg Borders, but he missed that call; when he called Greg back, Greg told Michael that he’d been out playing golf with friends, but said that Stephanie and Tina were both missing, and that Tina’s manager had gone into the house and contacted the sheriff’s office. Greg told him that he’d given the police permission to enter the house, which they had. Greg went on to explain that the police had apparently found a lot of blood there, and that they’d then told him they needed to get a search warrant before proceeding.

  Michael was visibly upset, and he told Agent Trombitas that Trombitas was the first law enforcement officer who had contacted him. Michael didn’t understand why the sheriff’s office hadn’t contacted him yet, and he was completely in the dark about what had happened to his mother. He was just as in the dark about what was going on as Larry Maynard.

  * * *

  It was, of course, important for Special Agents Wilgus and Winterich of BCI&I to draw some kind of conclusion regarding the various bloodstains in Tina Herrmann’s residence. From their conclusions, other investigators could get a better idea of what they were dealing with. To this end, the blood specialists made a list of six points.

  First was that three individual saturation stains and their associated spatter stains were consistent with three of the four missing persons having been assaulted, resulting in significant blood loss in the house.

  Second was that the three swipe patterns leading from the saturation stains to the bathtub—in conjunction with the amount of blood, tissue and fat deposits found in the bathtub itself—indicated the possibility of dismemberment or some other major injury to some or all of the missing persons.

  Third was that the altered bloodstains in the bathtub, on the vinyl floor at the front door and at the bottom of the steps leading into the garage indicated some movement of the missing persons after contact with water or other altering substances.

  Fourth was that the presence of bleached carpeting, motor oil and wipe patterns all indicated an attempt to alter, hide, remove or cover the bloodstains.

  Fifth was that the presence of nonaltered, passive drops of blood in separate parts of the house indicated the possibility of an individual having been cut or injured. In addition to the three individuals who had sustained a major bleeding event and/or dismemberment, there was a different outcome for one individual. Either the perpetrator or the fourth victim had been merely cut during the assault.

  And finally, the sixth point was that the lack of fingerprint or palm-print ridge detail in blood and the presence of fabric patterns in blood indicated that the assailant had probably been wearing gloves at the time of the bloodletting events.

  * * *

  BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz worked well into the late-night hours of November 12, like many other law enforcement officers that day. He noted later, “Jeremy Biggs voluntarily came to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and was interviewed by me. Also present for the interview was Special Agent Rick Wozniak of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jeremy Biggs had sold the Jeep to Stephanie and still had his name on the Department of Vehicles registration form.

  “Biggs stated that he and Stephanie Sprang [had been] best friends for three years but had never really dated. Biggs stated he was last in contact with Sprang at 12:10 PM on Wednesday, November 10th, while he was at work. Biggs said he spoke to Sprang on the phone at that time and she was actually at his house doing schoolwork on his computer.” Just what classes she may have been taking or why she was doing schoolwork he didn’t say.

  “Biggs added that Sprang cleaned his house once a week as a part time job. Biggs also said that the Jeep Cherokee that Sprang drove was in his name as a result of it having been bought shortly after Sprang had a DUI arrest. Biggs said although Sprang paid for the vehicle, it could not be put in her name for insurance purposes.

  “Biggs said that he was at work all day on Wednesday and that he was in a sales meeting most of the day with several people at work. [His general manager] could account for his being there on November 10.” November 10 was the day that Tina, Sarah, Kody and Stephanie disappeared.

  Agent Dietz later followed up on Jeremy Biggs’s story, and the general manager at the Mount Vernon Jeld-Wen Windows and Doors facility were Jeremy worked confirmed it, saying that Jeremy had come to work around 8:00 AM and left around 5:00 PM that day.

  The manager also added that Jeremy had often referred to Stephanie Sprang as his “best friend.”

  FOURTEEN

  “An Unusual Amount of Blood”

  By Saturday, November 13, 2010, a reporter contacted East Middle School, which both Sarah and Kody Maynard attended. East Knox Schools Superintendent Matthew Caputo confirmed that the children had been in school on Wednesday, November 10, but not on November 11. In fact, the school had made a courtesy call on that same day to see if the children were all right. They’d received no response.

  Caputo said that KCSO was taking care of matters now, so he couldn’t say much more. He did add, however, that plans were in place if a “crisis” had occurred. “We have procedures we follow to ensure we are taking care of the needs of the kids. If a student is bothered by something, we are going to have a set of ears to listen to them and help them to be able to get through whatever it is. We also have some local folks who we can call on, youth ministers and such.”

  * * *

  After all of Matthew Hoffman’s exertions over the last few days, he finally felt safe enough to spend more time with the girl in his house. There was no doubt in his mind that she was pretty. She was very young, but that didn’t matter to him. Since she was tied up, she’d have to go along with whatever he wanted.

  * * *

  Sarah had been lying on a bed of leaves that Hoffman had constructed for her in the dark basement. She felt distressed and ashamed that she had wet herself while tied up there, but there was nothing she could do about it. He hadn’t let her use the bathroom when she needed to. At least he’d put gloves on her hands; otherwise, the cold dank basement might have been unbearable.

  Suddenly the man was back downstairs and asking her to do something. At first she didn’t understand what it was he was asking, but then it became all too plain. He said some things to her that disgusted her, but she knew this was one more thing that she’d have to endure if she wanted to stay alive.

  * * *

  More than fifty miles away, Larry and his family felt like they were in a bunker of their own. Media vans and reporters surrounded the house. Larry’s mind wandered between anger, hope and despair. He knew that the longer this ordeal went on, the less likely it was that there would be a good ending to all of it. Tracy brought out food for him to eat, but he barely touched it. His stomach was tied in knots and no food was appealing to him. He wond
ered what to tell AJ. What do you tell a boy that young about a situation like this?

  Tina’s brother Bill was suffering through the same emotions as Larry. His girlfriend, Lisa Robey, later related, “I remember one night after leaving the police station, we had stopped at a restaurant. We hadn’t eaten in days, and still were not hungry, but we knew we needed to eat. While sitting at a table, I started looking at the people around me. While I was looking, I remember thinking, ‘What’s wrong with everyone? Why are they happy? Why are they laughing? Why are they complaining about mashed potatoes? Don’t they know what just happened? Don’t they know that our world has stopped?’ For some reason, I had thought that just because our lives stopped, everyone else’s should have also.

  “That’s not the way the world works. You sometimes see and hear of the tragic stories on TV, and naturally feel sorry for the families, but never think it would happen to your family, or someone that you know. There were endless trips to Mount Vernon. Numerous phone calls from family and friends wanting answers, in which we had no answers to give.”

  * * *

  On November 13, Lieutenant Gary Rohler and Detective Doug Turpen interviewed Alexa Leasure at the sheriff’s office. Alexa was a friend and coworker of Tina’s from Dairy Queen. Alexa explained to the officers that Tina had been having relationship problems with Greg Borders, and that Tina was in the process of finding a new place to rent. Tina, Sarah and Kody were going to move out of the King Beach Drive residence.