Murder In The Heartland Part 10

With Dyanne Siktar's tip, Ben Espey and the FBI now had a tangible piece of the puzzle they could work with. Dyanne had provided SA Lipanovich with the IP address from Darlene Fischer's computer. Essentially, the FBI had a computer fingerprint, which could lead them to the home address where the electronic messages between Darlene and Bobbie Jo had originated. Having it was not only a break in the investigation, but a possible lifesaver for Victoria Jo.

FBI SA Mickey Roberts, who had arrived in Maryville and begun working the case with Espey, was running down leads he had obtained from field agents in Missouri and Kansas before Dyanne Siktar came forward with her tip. Since Dyanne had called into the FBI, several other Ratter Chatter members had also phoned in information. Hearing the same thing from several different sources, the FBI knew, meant the information carried a considerable amount of weight. For Mickey Roberts, though, all he had at this point was what Ben Espey had given him, along with what those FBI field agents were reporting: a woman who was eight months pregnant with a female "fetus" had been "strangled in her home, her abdomen...cut open and the fetus removed. The victim...found with blond hair clenched in her hands; the victim does not have blond hair."

After SA Lipanovich became involved, he was briefed by Ben Espey about the case. According to an affidavit prepared later by the FBI, Espey told Lipanovich everything his office knew as it came in. Dave Merrill, a MSHP trooper, had processed the crime scene and found the computer in which Bobbie Jo "had been active on the Internet in connection with her dog-breeding business."

This was an important find now because Dyanne had come forward with information that Bobbie Jo was, right up until those final hours before her death, communicating online with someone by the name of Darlene Fischer. Everything, it seemed, was beginning to fall together. This was how cases got solved. Dyanne's phone call, on top of the Amber Alert tip supposedly called in by Auntie Mary, had opened up an entire new vein of the investigation.

But where did Lisa Montgomery fit into it all? As the morning of December 17 turned into afternoon, she was still a part of the puzzle law enforcement hadn't put together.

The new tips provided hope, a shot in the arm that these tired lawmen needed to keep them focused. Most everyone involved in the case had been awake now well over twenty-four hours. Where was the child? Time was an issue now more than ever. If the child was still alive, was she being fed properly? Cared for? Had she been injured during her violent delivery? What would happen when they finally located the child and her abductor? Would there be some sort of showdown?

42.

Throughout the early-morning hours of December 17, several law enforcement agencies worked in unison to find Darlene Fischer. Based on Darlene's final e-mail to Bobbie Jo (and Bobbie Jo's response), law enforcement agents were convinced she was the last person to have seen Bobbie Jo alive. Becky Harper had even told Ben Espey not long after he arrived at the crime scene "someone named Darlene Fischer" had made plans with Bobbie Jo to look at a few puppies. Even if Darlene Fischer wasn't responsible for the crime, there was a good chance she could help the investigation move in the right direction.

But where was she?

After the MSHP's Dave Merrill processed the crime scene in Skidmore, it was handed over to the evidence response team from the St. Joseph (Missouri) Police Department for further study. Detective Curt Howard, a forensic computer examiner, spent some time with Bobbie Jo's computer and found several interesting items that, coupled with the information Dyanne Siktar had recently given to SA Lipanovich, began telling a story of Bobbie Jo's final moments.

Among the things Detective Howard found were message board chats from several people who had been communicating with Bobbie Jo. One Hotmail user, Jason Dawson, a fellow rat terrier breeder from the same Ratter Chatter site, had spoken to Bobbie Jo online through her Happy Haven Farms Internet account.

It was an important discovery, but the ident.i.ty of the actual person behind Fischer4kids at Hotmail was still unknown. What was obvious, though, according to the information Howard uncovered, was that Darlene Fischer had been interested in looking at a few of Bobbie Jo's dogs, which confirmed Becky Harper's lead. Darlene claimed she lived in Fairfax, Missouri, and it was established she had, at some point, asked Bobbie Jo for directions to her house in Skidmore, which Bobbie Jo provided.

For thirty-three-year-old Jeff Owen, a forensic examiner with the Kansas City Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory (RCFL) and an MSHP trooper, at present a.s.signed to the Division of Drug and Crime Control (Criminal Investigations Division), the Christmas season wasn't about eggnog, tinsel, and parties. Jeff had been going through a rough time of late. He and his wife of many years were in the process of a divorce and Jeff was missing his kids, ages one and three, something bad. To make matters worse, Jeff's stepsister, with whom he had grown up, had been murdered a few years back during the Christmas holiday season. One of the only highlights of Jeff's day lately was waking up and going to work, where he could lose himself and focus on helping people.

"It was comforting for me to have a simple, small role in helping solve this horrible, heinous crime," recalled Jeff. "It was tremendously gratifying to me as a person and cop."

MSHP colleague Dave Merrill had called Jeff the previous night and briefed him about Bobbie Jo's computer ("They had really hit a brick wall...")-but Jeff had his kids; he couldn't just drop everything, as he had been accustomed to doing while married, and run right in. ("I'm a single father. What could I do?") But first thing the following morning, he drove to the lab, preparing to lose himself in Bobbie Jo's computer and see what he could find.

After Jeff checked in, he spoke to Detective Howard, who explained the chats Bobbie Jo had with Darlene Fischer and Bobbie Jo's online activity.

"We have her computer here," said Howard.

"Thanks. I'll be up as soon as I can to get it," said Jeff.

When he returned, Jeff sat in the lab and started going through Bobbie Jo's computer. Almost immediately, he realized Darlene Fischer didn't live in Fairfax, Missouri, as she had told Bobbie Jo and, for the most part, law enforcement still believed. The IP address she had been using, Jeff could tell by looking through the cached files Bobbie Jo unknowingly left behind, had originated in Kansas somewhere.

"We believed," remembered Jeff, "as a group, Fairfax was not accurate.... We a.s.sumed it was a pseudonym and fake address, but at that point, had no idea where it was from."

At his disposal, Jeff had specialized software allowing him to peer inside Bobbie Jo's computer for deleted files, and files Bobbie Jo didn't even realize she had on her hard drive, without damaging the computer or overwriting files.

Figuring Darlene Fischer was likely a ruse, Jeff dug further and found out Bobbie Jo had been online for much of the day she was murdered-shopping on eBay, browsing for Christmas presents on other sites, looking at items for the baby and the house-but there was a break in her activity shortly before Becky Harper dialed 911.

"She was extremely active," said Owen to a colleague, looking through Bobbie Jo's history online. "But there's a period here where she disappears from the computer and never returns."

"That's probably where our suspect entered the scene."

As the morning progressed, another important element of Jeff's work included "imaging" each file he viewed. If a suspect was caught and the case went to trial, the prosecution would need evidence. In a sense, Jeff was investigating the case in real time, but also preserving evidence as he went along, copying the files he was looking at.

At some point that afternoon, SA Kurt Lipanovich called. Kurt and Jeff had known each other for years and worked on several big cases together. A large man at about six feet two inches, two hundred pounds, Lipanovich was in excellent physical shape, more muscle than flab. Being a member of the FBI's SWAT team, Lipanovich had a larger-than-life presence about him; he looked like a tough cop. Yet, he had no trouble sharing his rather "dry sense of humor" with fellow agents and lawmen, and then, quite quickly, falling into seriousness when the situation called for it.

"Jeff, we got this tip from some woman in North Carolina," said Lipanovich over the phone.

"What is it?"

"Some sort of message board: Annie's Rat Terrier Rest Area."

"Great."

"Can you check it out?"

"Of course."

"When you go through her browser history," Lipanovich added, "see if Darlene Fischer visited that site, too."

"Got it."

Within an hour after Jeff found those pages where Bobbie Jo and Darlene were logged on to Annie's Rat Terrier Rest Area and communicating with each other, he had all of their online discussions staring him in the face.

Even better: on every post, at the bottom of the screen, was the IP address of each user.

As soon as he had the IP address Bobbie Jo had been communicating with, Jeff ran a check under the Patriot Act on public available databases and-lo and behold-came up with a server, as well as the company maintaining it.

"I have that information, Kurt," said Jeff after calling Lipanovich back. There was enthusiasm in his voice. It was the first major breakthrough in the case. They were onto something big; both could sense the momentum.

Even so, the computer forensic work was still somewhat of a side show to the traditional gumshoe investigation Ben Espey and his crew were doggedly pursuing. The St. Joseph PD had recovered the e-mail addresses from the chats between Bobbie Jo and Darlene Fischer the previous night, but the follow up with Microsoft, according to Jeff, had not been done to secure IP information. So, in effect, "the digital evidence was known," but the additional steps needed to find out who Darlene Fischer was had not yet been done.

Known as the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Kansas City (HARCFL), the lab Jeff Owen worked out of "accepts requests for computer forensics services from any law enforcement [agency]" within its service area, which comprises counties encompa.s.sing the entire state of Kansas and two-thirds of Western Missouri. The HARCFL also takes on cases from local police departments and the FBI. The goal of the RCFL (which has labs all across America) is to be a "one-stop, full-service forensics laboratory devoted entirely to the examination of digital evidence in support of criminal investigations."

It's a simple concept. The lab, a "one-stop shop" devoted to computer forensic work, can get a lot more done in a day than other agencies involved in different aspects of a case. Much of the RCFL's time is dedicated, "but not limited, to terrorism, child p.o.r.nography, crimes of violence, theft or destruction of intellectual property, Internet crimes, and fraud."

One of HARCFL's most recent accomplishments was the work the lab did in a serial killer case of high notoriety, which went unsolved for decades: the arrest of Dennis Rader, who admitted to being the BTK killer. Five computer forensic examiners from HARCFL traveled to Wichita, Kansas, where they "a.s.sisted the Computer Unit of the Wichita, Kansas, Police Department by imaging numerous computers using the most advanced forensics equipment available." As a result, they were able to obtain digital evidence that, "when a.n.a.lyzed, was instrumental in the investigation and ongoing prosecution" of Rader.

These men and women spend hours doing tedious computer work. But for RCFL examiners like Jeff Owen, their work is a vocation that can solve an otherwise impenetrable case.

"It's very rewarding," said Jeff. "What's great is, everyone here works for a different agency, but we work whatever case needs [to be] done. It is one of the rare examples of true cooperation in law enforcement."

A father of three and dedicated husband, James Domres had been involved in computer forensics for the New York State Attorney General since before the Internet became a staple in millions of American households. Domres, a member of the Western New York RCFL Executive Board since its inception, had been an a.s.set in cases ranging from prosecuting members of al-Qaeda to an undercover operation exposing date rape drug sales over the Internet. His accomplishments have resulted in over one hundred arrests, capped off by an international investigation of forged ident.i.ties, which led to the arrest of a man who had counterfeited hundreds of driver's licenses, including one with a photograph of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a major al-Qaeda operative and suspected national terrorist.

In the field of law enforcement computer work, James Domres, Jeff Owen, and their colleagues all over the world are considered masters of their craft. It takes tremendous discipline to solve a crime by sitting in an office searching through the bowels of a box of plastic, wires, and circuit boards. But most agents love it.

It would be safe to say James Domres is one of a handful of individuals in the United States who know more about the underlining operational procedures of the RCFL than most.

The RCFL, Domres said, had been one of the best tools to come around in decades, aiding in several different types of investigations. He noted that computer crimes weren't necessarily the only ones the RCFL could help local and federal law enforcement agencies with. Blackberries, iPods, and cell phones also leave strands of digital "DNA" evidence everywhere they go.

"You see, before RCFL came about," said Domres, "you had investigators doing both: forensics and computer investigations. We saw the need, to have labs where people did nothing but computer forensics-something that could support local agencies."

For Bobbie Jo Stinnett's newborn child, possibly still alive, and her husband, who had lost a wife but still hoped he would be united with his daughter, the work Jeff Owen was doing was perhaps the most important job anyone had been given in the investigation thus far. It was up to the RCFL now to find out who Darlene Fischer was-and the residential address from which she had logged on to her computer.

Jeff Owen traced Darlene Fischer's IP address back to Qwest Communications. He phoned SA Lipanovich with the news. "I got it for you, Kurt."

"You do? What is it?"

With the phone cradled between his shoulder and ear, Jeff read the IP address straight from the Internet message board, which he had logged on to "live" on one computer at his workstation. He swung around in his chair and checked it with the IP on Bobbie Jo's computer, which he had sitting on another desk. "It's a company out of Virginia, Qwest Communications."

"That's great!"

"Here, let me give you their number. This is what you need to tell them...." Jeff explained what Lipanovich needed to say once he got Qwest on the phone.

"Great work, Jeff!" Lipanovich roared.

"Kurt, you must understand," said Jeff before they hung up, "what we have is the cyber equivalent to a return address on a letter from the suspect. The Internet service provider should be able to pinpoint exactly what address it went to-where the suspect lives."

43.

Special Agent Lipanovich called Qwest and spoke to Melissa Erwin, a senior security specialist.

"Yes," Erwin explained to Lipanovich, "that IP address is a.s.signed to us. Let me see what I can do to find out where it originates."

Qwest, an Internet Service Provider (ISP), had nothing to do with Darlene Fischer, other than providing her, like millions of other computer users, with access to an Internet server.

"Thanks," said Lipanovich. "Make it quick, though. We're fighting against time here."

Soon, Erwin called Lipanovich back. As luck would have it, he had Jeff Owen on another line. "Jeff, hold on, that's Qwest calling back."

Erwin said she needed more information.

Lipanovich asked Jeff, "Can you verify exactly when Stinnett and Darlene Fischer chatted?"

"Yup, hold on." Jeff gave Lipanovich the actual times.

"We're going to get an actual physical address, Jeff," said Lipanovich.

"I told you."

"Based on the usage of that IP address," Erwin said a minute later, "on December 15, 2004, I was able to determine through a reverse domain name system search that the server being used was located in Topeka, Kansas."

Topeka made sense. It was in the region where Bobbie Jo had been murdered. "There's more," added Erwin. "By reviewing our Internet connection logs, I was able to determine that the IP address used on December 15, 2004, between those times we discussed, was a.s.signed to 'kelimont at Earthlink dot net.'"

Furthermore, it was a dial-up connection, as opposed to a cable modem, making it easy to trace.

"Go on," said Lipanovich. Everything was at last coming together.

Erwin said, "I even did a reverse Internet search for the phone number and found that the number is being billed to a guy by the name of Kevin Montgomery. He lives on Adams Road in Melvern, Kansas."

And there it was: Kevin Montgomery. Melvern, Kansas.

While Jeff Owen continued to gather evidence on Bobbie Jo's computer, SA Lipanovich had a solid lead from Qwest Communications: a name and address of a male who was apparently the last person to communicate with Bobbie Jo online.

Within a few hours after receiving the lead, Lipanovich found out Kevin Montgomery had three kids of his own. He had been married to thirty-six-year-old Lisa Montgomery for four years. Recently they had been celebrating because Lisa was in the last trimester of her pregnancy, and she and Kevin were preparing for the arrival of a new baby. That Kelimont e-mail address had been set up by Lisa, using an acronym: "Ke" stood for Kevin; "li" for Lisa; whereas "mont" referred to their last name, Montgomery.

Lipanovich now had a name and, even better, an address in Melvern, Kansas.

44.

Sitting at his desk, Sheriff Ben Espey was preparing to brief the press when he heard about the latest break.

SA Kurt Lipanovich had been working closely with Espey throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Espey liked Lipanovich, respected his work ethic and resolve to find the child. Now, with a team of federal agents heading to Melvern to find out if Kevin Montgomery had anything to do with the case, it seemed the situation was out of Lipanovich's and Espey's hands.

Espey had a gut feeling going into the early afternoon they would locate the child in Melvern. The tipster from Georgia, who had called in Lisa Montgomery's name, had solidified the connection, at least for him. Coupled with what he had heard from the FBI, Espey knew where the child was-there was no doubt about it.

"The baby was in Melvern, Kansas," Espey said later. "As soon as I realized that, I sent my own men there to get her, whether the FBI would welcome them or not. It was about the child for me. My men were going to Melvern with one purpose: finding Victoria Jo. And the FBI wasn't going to do anything to stop them from doing their jobs."

The race was on.

45.