Transcript
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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.
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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.
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Listener discretion is advised.
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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.
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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing.
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I'm Ali.
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And I'm Eli.
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Welcome back, everyone.
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Thank you all so much for hanging with us.
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I know not last week, but the week before we missed a week because we were having technical
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difficulties.
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I don't know if we've ever talked about it on here, but we do the podcast all on an iPad
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and one microphone, so it's really a shoestring setup over here, a very good one.
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But sometimes things just don't work.
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Yeah, it's very incredible week after week to witness my wife do this investigative research
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and put these stories together for us, real stories of so many people's loved ones.
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It's very incredible work to not only watch her do it, but to see how she does it and
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the setup we've managed to make in our home to bring you this podcast.
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So it means a lot when the listeners stick around and our understanding of life happening.
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But with that, I think we should just go ahead and get into this week's episode.
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Yeah, we are on episode 103 this week.
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So just as a bit of a content warning at the top, this case does involve a young person
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and there are mentions of sexual assault.
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Today we are talking about the cold case of Deborah Makel and this takes place on October
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5th, 1973 in Rice's Landing, Pennsylvania.
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But first a little bit about Deborah.
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Deborah, who also goes by Debbie, so I'll switch back and forth throughout the podcast,
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was eight years old in 1973.
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She has two older brothers and they all attend Dry Tavern Elementary School, where Debbie
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is a third grader.
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All of her teachers say that she is an exceptionally bright student.
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She got straight A's.
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Debbie is a bubbly and outgoing young lady.
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She loved dancing.
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She was taking classes in tap and ballet.
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She lived with her family at the end of a dead end road.
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Behind her house was a field.
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Her father was a teacher at a nearby school and her mother worked in a textile factory.
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Her father also raised hunting dogs and had several in the backyard.
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They liked this quiet community.
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Debbie's parents, Charlotte and Duane, thought that this was the perfect place to raise their
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kids where they could go and explore the woods and the creek that ran nearby and just have
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everything available to them.
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And now a timeline of events.
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Friday, October 5th, 1973.
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Deborah spends the day at school.
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Nothing really out of the ordinary is reported about her school day.
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On that particular Friday, Debbie was going to ride the bus home and her older brothers
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were allowed to walk home.
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This is something that the older kids at their school were allowed to do, but since Debbie
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was younger, she had to ride the bus.
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Her older brothers took their time walking home that day.
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They were either trying to sell candy or magazines as part of a school fundraiser.
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At around 340 p.m.
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Debbie's brothers were about a quarter of a mile away from the dead end road where their
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house was.
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They see the school bus stopping at the end of the road and letting Debbie off.
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A jogger in the area also saw Debbie at the end of the road.
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A few minutes later, however, a neighbor who was outside mowing the grass saw Debbie enter
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the family home.
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Debbie would have arrived to an empty home.
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Her mother Charlotte was still at work at the textile factory but would be home within
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the hour.
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And her dad was a teacher at another school, but he would be home shortly after the mom.
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Debbie lets herself inside of the home with her key.
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She picks up plums that were left on the porch by one of her grandparents and brings it inside
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and drops her books off.
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When her brothers arrive about 20 minutes later at 4 p.m.
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Debbie isn't there.
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Her books and keys are there, but her brothers don't really make any note of this.
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This was pretty normal for Debbie to turn around and go outside to play with her friends.
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As Debbie's parents get home, they begin making dinner.
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And as the night goes on and dinner is ready, Debbie doesn't show up.
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She knew to be home by dinner.
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Debbie's mom Charlotte and her dad DeWayne begin to call friends in the neighborhood
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to ask if Debbie is there.
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For some people who didn't have a phone, they drive over looking for their daughter.
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Each phone call and each visit, more and more people start looking for Debbie and helping
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Charlotte and DeWayne out to look for her.
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They even have an announcement made at the high school Friday night football game that
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was happening down the road at Jefferson Morgan High School.
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After the announcement, folks in the stands started leaving to come help look for the
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little girl.
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When they still cannot find any sign of her, they fear that she got lost in the nearby
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woods and they call the local fire department at around 7.30 p.m. to ask for help in the
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search.
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Fire and police show up and begin to look for the little girl.
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All of the neighbors and friends are also out looking and around 250 to 300 folks were
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searching in the near freezing temperatures all through the night.
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It does appear that at some point in this night search, two men were discovered.
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They said they were out squirrel hunting.
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It's unclear what happened to the men after this short questioning, but people did find
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it odd that two men would be squirrel hunting in the middle of the night and squirrel season
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didn't start until the next week.
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As folks continue to search throughout the night and into the next day, Saturday, October
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6th.
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As the sun started to break, police came up with a search plan since there had still been
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no sign of the little girl.
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Police will launch a helicopter that day to help them aid and cover more ground and police
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also bring in scent dogs to try to pick up on any trail of Debbie and still no sign of
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her is found.
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As night begins to fall on that Saturday, police suspend the search for the evening
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with plans to resume the next day.
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On Sunday, October 7th, Debbie has been missing for two days now.
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Another search was getting organized and ready to start.
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More of Debbie's family had come into town, including two of her cousins.
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They set out before the rest of the group because they were anxious to start looking
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for her.
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And about 15 minutes later, at 1020 a.m., her cousin see a small leg with a green stocking
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sticking out from under branches only a few hundred yards from her home.
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As police removed the branches and brush that were covering her, she was found laying next
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to the foundation of the ruins of an old distillery right near Pumpkin Run Creek.
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As police recover Debbie, she still has on her dress that she was last seen wearing,
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but it's torn.
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According to the Pennsylvania State Police, she also had a pillowcase covering her head.
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Her black shoes, blue underwear, and pink purse were all missing and have never been
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recovered.
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She still had rope around her neck and there were rope burns underneath that.
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Debbie's body is sent for an autopsy.
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The autopsy confirms that Debbie died by strangulation with the rope.
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It also shows that she had been sexually assaulted.
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The coroner at the time said the bruises on her face indicated that she was killed before
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she was raped.
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Immediately, people are on edge.
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All of the people who were searching are sure that they would have spotted her the day before
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if she had been there.
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She was so close to the family home.
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One searcher who grew up in the area, Forest West, said, quote, I stood right at the burial
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site twice and the branches and the body weren't here, end quote.
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Police also say a lot in the media at this time that Debbie was dragged to where her
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body was found.
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I don't know if this is just a poor choice of words or if they literally mean her body
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showed evidence of being dragged.
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Police believe that Debbie did die on Friday, the day she went missing, but she wasn't
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found until Sunday.
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Over the next few days, the community is shocked by the violent crime.
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Family and friends flock to comfort Debbie's parents and her surviving brothers.
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The whole community is on edge.
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The head teacher at her elementary school says, quote, they're worried.
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They can't understand how something like this could happen here.
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They can't believe that someone around here who'd do a thing like that, end quote.
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One thing that the police and the community feel certain of is that a stranger could not
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have wandered into their small town without being noticed.
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The person who killed and assaulted Debbie would have had to be a local.
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No one recalls seeing an out of place vehicle that day, and it would have taken somebody
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with knowledge of the area to get in and out without being seen.
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And on top of this, none of the neighbors heard Debbie's dad's hunting dogs barking
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or making any commotion in the backyard.
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On Wednesday, October 10th, just five days after disappearing, Debbie is laid to rest.
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Police beg the public to come forward with any and all information, no matter how small.
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The police say, quote, we may be able to tie it in with something else, end quote.
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Police are chasing down every lead and tip that they get, but they all fizzle out in
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the end.
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The coroner tells the perpetrator to turn himself in, quote, it would be best for him
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to do that.
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We're going to get him.
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If not today, tomorrow, end quote.
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As the days drag on, a concerned citizen offers a thousand dollar reward for information.
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She and other members of the community go door to door to try to collect more donations
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and information.
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They're able to raise $4,000 for the reward fund very quickly, but they find that very
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few folks want to talk.
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In this area, people keep to themselves and they don't trust the police.
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By October 26th, so it's been 21 days since Debbie's murder, and police say that they
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have interviewed over 800 people to try to track down the killer, but they still have
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no suspects in the case.
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Police say, quote, we're asking everyone to cast back in their memories to see if they
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can remember some details of that Friday afternoon, which they may have overlooked, end quote.
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With Halloween around the corner, the community decides that with Debbie's killer on the
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loose, it would be better to have a daytime parade that ended in an area where treats
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would be passed out to kids.
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Parents are keeping a watchful eye on their children, walking them to the bus stop and
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standing guard while they play outside.
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The coroner on the case says, quote, until this happened, we never thought of things
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like this.
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Our kids playing in the fields and explore the woods and creeks.
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Now I'm afraid parents have become very aware of what has happened, end quote.
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As 1974 rolls around, so it's been over three months since Debbie's murder, and there
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are still no suspects in the case or even people of interest.
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Police are still convinced that it was somebody local, or someone who had lived in the area
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and has ties to it.
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Many fear that the killer actually helped them search for Debbie the night she went
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missing.
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At the one year anniversary in October of 1974, police are no closer to finding who
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killed Debbie than the day they found her body.
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They do reveal a couple more facts, however.
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Police say that two hours before Debbie arrived at home from school the day that she was murdered,
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a man stopped by the family home to inquire about buying one of the hunting dogs Debbie's
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dad had raised.
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Duane had placed an ad in the newspaper mentioning that they were for sale.
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The man said he knocked at the front door and thought he saw a drape move back momentarily,
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but no one answered the door.
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And at this time, nobody should be home.
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Both of her parents are at work and the children are at school.
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Neighbors said they didn't see any strange cars or people at the house that day.
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But there was a burgundy car seen in the area which did not belong to anyone in the community.
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Outside of these new details, there is nothing to report and the months turn into years.
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Debbie's story surfaces in newspapers occasionally, usually around the anniversary of her death,
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but no new details emerge and no new suspects are mentioned by police.
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By 1980, police still consider this case active.
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Quote, we're still getting leads all the time.
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Right now I have a file on this case about as thick as the Pittsburgh phone book.
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Nothing might come from these little pieces of information we still get.
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End quote.
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However, years and years continue to pass.
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In 2003, so it's been 30 years since the murder of Debbie, and her parents still live
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in the same home.
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They have pictures of her on the mantle, but they're never able to add new photos of her.
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The community and Debbie's family still want answers and justice in this case.
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Debbie's mom Charlotte says, quote, you go on, but you never get past it.
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The fact that you have no clues, no answers is what makes it so hard.
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End quote.
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Police do have some new leads as of 2003.
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A man serving jail time for two different homicides said that he had information about
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Debbie's murder and he did have ties to Pennsylvania.
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The man is never ID'd by police.
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Police in 2003 say that they are working on verifying the man's story to see if they can
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link him to the crime scene through DNA.
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Police have been using advances in technology to test her clothing and other evidence gathered
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at the scene.
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And based off of this, that makes me think that there is a DNA profile.
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But according to Debbie's family on social media, the police have never confirmed to
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them if they've been able to do DNA testing.
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But that is truly all we know about the murder of Debbie Makel in 1973.
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So if you know anything, please call the Pennsylvania State Police Waynesburg Station at 724-627-6151.
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So that is the case of Debbie Makel
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I think what saddens me most about this case is that this is every parent's, you know,
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worst nightmare.
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And to lose your child in such a way and for your child to be taken from you and for that
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statement to just have a forever connection to your child, like my mind I think almost
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wants to try to make it not real.
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I think when listening to this story is I don't want to believe that it's real.
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But unfortunately it is.
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And you do such an incredible job with introducing us to who these people are, even when they're
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children, especially when they're children.
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I love that we get to learn about what kind of kid she was, because she sounded awesome
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and like a great classmate and sister and friend.
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And I'm very grateful to know her name now.
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Yeah, it's always so important to me to really understand who, every case we cover, who the
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people are and what their life was like.
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Because while the ending of their life is tragic and still a mystery that needs answers,
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they were so much more than just the last moments of their lives.
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All of them, all of them.
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They've lived full, rich, incredible lives up until the very end.
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And I think they deserve people to know that part of them and that part of their life as
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well.
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Something that I really appreciated about this community was that they are exactly that,
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a community of people, and they really came through for this family, especially the announcement
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at the football game and everyone gathering from there and the search just continuing
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from there.
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I was very moved to hear that.
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And I loved that there was a call to action and the people answered.
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Yeah, I have a really clear mental image of like, all these people getting up from football
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stands to leave, of just like, okay, this is what we have to go do now.
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And yeah, incredible community.
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Honestly, this is one of the first times where I've heard of so many people and police searching
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through the night, all the way through the night.
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Usually they kind of suspend the search once it gets dark, but not here.
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They searched all night for Debbie that first night.
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Circling back to the beginning of the timeline, my first question was, what time does Debbie
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board the bus and is it the same time every day?
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I don't have a clear answer on what time she boards the bus.
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What I do know is that the elementary school was maybe a mile away, some reports say two
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miles, but if her brothers were walking home, I would think it's a little bit closer to
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the one mile range.
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We do know that she is seen getting off the bus at 340 to walk to her house down the dead
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end road.
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I think my question is rooted in trying to figure out if there is a pattern here, which
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school letting out at the same time every day is a pattern.
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So to me, that says someone who committed this crime very well could have been a community
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member because they would have known that time of when the windows of opportunity were.
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Absolutely.
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You know, it was October, so by that time, you know, kids are usually in school for at
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least a month, depending on when they start.
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And when her brothers arrive home at 4pm, about 20 minutes after they saw her getting
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off the bus, they weren't worried that she wasn't there.
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So it does seem like the schedule or what was usual was that, you know, Debbie would
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get there first, she had to ride the bus, and then she would go outside and play.
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So everything seemed normal.
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Nothing really stood out until she didn't show up for dinner.
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My second question was, this is more for proxemics, but what neighbor saw her?
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Was it a neighbor across the street, down the way, a few houses down, right next door?
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Because I think that changes the just view and vantage point, like that the neighbor
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would have had for a visual on her.
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So from my understanding, Debbie's house was the last house at that time on this dead
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end street.
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So she would have been at the end.
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And the neighbor, I'm not sure exactly which neighbor it would have been.
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But I do believe that again, at this time, it's different now, but at this time in 1973,
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there were only four houses on this short dead end road with Debbie's house being at
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the end.
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On our Instagram, we'll have a picture of Debbie's house at this time.
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And you'll get more of a visual with the field behind her and then, or excuse me, just behind
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the home and then just beyond that field is where her body was found.
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Until you mentioned the person going up to the door and maybe seeing curtains move, what
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I had written down was that really only left 20 minutes for someone to strike.
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That was the small window I had narrowed it down to within the timeframes of everything
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you had spoken about at that point.
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So I just wanted to talk about that with you a little bit.
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Yeah.
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So there is the story of, you know, the guy coming to the door and seeing the drape move
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during the middle of the day when nobody should have been home.
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It is about 20 minutes from the time that Debbie is seen by her brothers and the jogger
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and the neighbor to when her brothers arrive and notice that she's not at their family
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home.
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But I do think that there could be like a bigger timeframe than just that 20 minutes.
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The police and her brothers say that there were no signs of struggle in the home.
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Everything looked out of place except for her things which were set down, which was
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normal from my understanding.
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But if she had gone outside to play with a friend and maybe got intercepted on the way
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to the friend's house or on the way to the woods to go play or wherever she might have
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been heading, that just kind of opens up that timeframe.
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So could be that 20 minutes, but it could be a little bit longer because we don't really
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know what happened after she walked into her house.
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Nobody saw her leave again.
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This kind of veers away from the timeline, but I think they're worth mentioning again.
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The squirrel hunters.
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The squirrel hunters.
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It is mentioned in several newspaper reports about these hunters.
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It seems like the searchers came upon them in the middle of the night in the woods and
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they said they were out scoping squirrels, hunting squirrels, which people found strange.
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Squirrel season was six days away, I think, and it was the middle of the night.
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And I also believe that nobody saw their car, like these two men's cars while they were
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searching so they don't know how they got there either.
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That seems to be something as well.
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But I don't know if police talked to them and ruled them out.
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I don't know if police got their names or if they were able to kind of disappear into
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the search party with everybody distracted and just kind of leave.
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But I would, if I could sit down with police and ask any question and read the case file,
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first place I'd be looking is the squirrel hunters.
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Who were they?
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How did we rule them out?
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What is their piece in all of this?
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And if they are innocent, what did they see if they had been out in the woods?
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Did they hear anything?
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Did they notice anything?
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Did they see anybody?
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So tons of questions about the squirrel hunters.
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It seems like to me, and this is more just a reflection of how beautiful the community
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is, it makes sense to me that even in the moment that passersby or people who were in
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the search party met these two guys who were squirrel hunting, it makes sense to me that
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the community as a whole wouldn't even think to clock strangers as bad people who had done
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something horrible to this lost child.
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Well, at the time that Debbie disappeared, the community really thought that she was
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lost in the woods.
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One of the searchers, when he was thinking about it later, he said he couldn't stop
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searching that night because he was like, what if she's in the river?
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They really thought that she was lost in the woods or hurt in the woods.
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They didn't even think that she had been murdered.
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So I think to your point, the community had a sense of innocence and maybe integrity too.
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It just wouldn't dawn on them that somebody would do this to a child.
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So like the most natural thing is that this child is lost in the woods.
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Yeah, that's exactly my mindset.
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And the last thing that I wrote down when you were circling the end of this timeline
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was this crime, Debbie being taken from this family, this community, it took the innocence
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away from the entire community down to how they were having to monitor their kids playing.
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It really broke my heart.
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But the resilience of this community is beautiful.
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The resilience of her parents, her siblings, even though it is unfair resilience, resilience
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that they shouldn't have to have the fact that they have continued to search for answers
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for their daughter is very beautiful to me.
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And you can feel the love from this family and the community.
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Yeah, and they all still want answers in this case, those who were there in 1973 want answers
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and her family want answers.
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And even if they're new to the community, like they want to know what happened to Debbie
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in 1973.
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And I think this case is solvable.
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If police kept the evidence and are able to test it and get DNA, I think that we will
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see this case be closed as long as it's continuously worked and not forgotten about.
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But as long as it gets the resources it needs, I think this case can be solved.
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So again, if you know anything about the murder of Debbie Makel in 1973, please call the
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Pennsylvania State Police, Waynesburg Station at 724-627-6151.
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And we'll have pictures of Debbie on our Instagram at Cold and Missing.
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I also mentioned we'll have a picture of her house just to kind of give you a better idea.
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And there's also a picture of the area where her body was recovered that has the foundations
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just because I know that's kind of hard to visualize.
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But police put this in the paper because it's hard to visualize.
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So we have that picture that'll be on our Instagram.
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You can find us at Cold and Missing.
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Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed us recently.
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We've gotten so many kind reviews and even just kind comments on our Instagram.
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Thank you so much for doing that.
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It means the world that you take the time out of your day to engage with us.
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So thank you so much.
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If you have the time today, if you can rate, review, share the story, if this is one that
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maybe you haven't heard before, I'm sure there's other people in your circles that haven't
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heard it as well.
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So please share it.
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And if you or someone you love is hard of hearing, we have transcripts on our website
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www.coldandmissing.com.
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You can also review us there.
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You can message us there if you want to get in touch with us.
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All of that information is on our website.
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But that is all I have.
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Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing and for staying with us even through
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unexpected technical delays.
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I'm your host, Allie.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli.
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Have a good week and stay safe, y'all.
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Stay safe, y'all.
