by Ken Renshaw
After we were in the lodge having a glass of wine, Elizabeth downloaded the reporter's dispatch to Dore. It said:
To Dore Hamilton:
Subject: Summary of second day of trial.
The day started with Ed Sodastrom's tragic report of the evening Lucy was lost. Here is an excerpt:
While we were finishing dinner, about six o'clock, at the Rawhide Cafe, on the highway north of Rocky Butte, Lucy asked whether she could go to the area behind the cafe and make a snowman. A light snow had begun falling and there was about an inch of snow accumulated behind the cafe. When we finished dinner and went to get Lucy, she could not be found. We found her tracks in the light snow but lost her trail. We searched and called for Lucy with no response. Alarmed, my wife, Ann went back into the cafe and called 911 while I continued the search.
Sheriff Bogend and his deputy arrived at the cafe at about a quarter after six. After a brief search, they called the county for assistance in a full-scale search operation and set up a command post in the cafe. By seven, county resources began to arrive, including search teams, paramedics, and communication equipment.
Two search parties began the search for Lucy. Sheriff Bogend believed that Lucy has gone down the trail into Sheffield Valley and sent the first search parties down that trail. A deputy told us that one party reported that they had found faint tracks. Sheriff Bogend directed a full-scale search into the Sheffield Valley area.
We sat in the cafe for a while until Ann became so stressed that we moved to our car in the parking lot. I got a blanket from the trunk, and we sat in the back seat waiting for word. About eight a man with three bloodhounds on leashes knocked on our car window. He asked whether we had any clothing of Lucy's. I gave him her extra sweater, and he let the dogs smell it. After searching around behind the cafe for a short time, the dogs began heading to the Bear Creek trail. I saw Sheriff Bogend come out of the cafe and shout at the man. After some discussion with the Sheriff, the man and his dogs returned to the parking lot.
About eight thirty, a man we now know as Steve Manteo arrived on the scene. We noticed him because he was such a big man and was not wearing heavy clothing like the search and rescue team members. He talked to the deputy outside the cafe for a while and then was led inside to talk to the Sheriff. We were watching him intently because we thought he might have had some news. Sheriff Bogend looked angry and had his deputy escort Mr. Manteo back to the parking lot.
In the parking lot, Mr. Manteo talked to some men of the County Search and Rescue team. We saw that they showed him the picture of Lucy we had given the Sheriff. Mr. Manteo viewed the picture and then went to his car and sat for a minute. He got out of the car and went back to the Deputy, outside the door, spoke for a few seconds and then pushed the Deputy out of the way and went into the cafe to the topographic map hung on the wall that the Sheriff had showed us earlier. He marked the map as the Sheriff came up and was shouting at him, with his gun drawn. Two deputies took Mr. Manteo by the arms and drug him out to the parking lot. Mr. Manteo sat in his car for a few minutes and then drove away.
At midnight, a Deputy drove us home because Ann was collapsing.
At a little after 2:00 am a deputy came to our house and told us they had found Lucy and that she had died.
Both Ed and Ann Sodastrom, along with several members of the jury, were visibly weeping, so the judge called a ten-minute recess.
After the recess, Ed Sodastrom was asked whether there was anything he would like to add.
Ed continued, 'This case is not about money for us. We have all we need. We would like to put all Sheriffs and the people that insure them on notice that they should use all resources, including psychics if necessary, for finding lost children.'
Dean Buttress stood and said, "I object....” Judge Cartright interrupted, “Sustained."
Mr. Willard quickly asked, "Is there anything else?"
Ed continued, "We shouldn't have to be here." He slumped dejectedly in his chair.
After an appropriately long theatrical pause, Mr. Willard said, 'Thank you."
Testimony continued with a member of a volunteer search and rescue team who said he had been on dozens of S&R efforts. He described the search scene as chaotic. He stood idly by from six forty-five until nine o'clock. When asked to rate the organization of the search from one (totally disorganized) to ten (very well-run operation), the S&R man scored the night as a three.
A retired deputy sheriff, from the neighboring county, now living in Rocky Butte, had heard about the search effort on his police scanner radio and gone to volunteer for the search effort. He supported the idea that the effort was disorganized, the Sheriff had failed to act on several suggestions by the professionals around him. He gave the effort a five.
The next man to testify was Tim Holtz, the bloodhound handler that Ed Sodastrom described above. He said that he had come as a volunteer after hearing of the search on a police scanner. He said he had acted on his own in starting his search with the dogs. He was going to talk to the Sheriff, but when his dogs smelled the sweater, they were off on a charge on Lucy's trail. From his experience, one should follow the dogs when they want to go. The Sheriff called him back and accused him of interfering with police work and said he would be arrested if he continued his own search. He said he stood around in the parking lot until his dogs got too cold. Since it seemed apparent that the Sheriff would not call on him, he went home.
When questioned about his credentials, Mr. Holtz said he had only recently moved to the area and was unknown here. He said he and his dogs had worked for seven years off–and–on for law enforcement agencies in the Sacramento and Northern California area. He was well instructed in the California Incident Control Procedures and knew he had to obey the Incident Commander, the Sheriff, when told to call off his dogs.
When asked whether the Sheriff had asked about his credentials, he said, "No, all he did was rant threats at me."
Sheriff Bogend's testimony was ideal for the case. The sheriff admitted he had heard of other police Departments using psychics in missing person’s cases but had no personal experience with psychics. The Sheriff kept getting angrier during the detailed questioning, When asked why he didn't use the bloodhounds, the Sheriff said he did not know the dogs, how well they were trained, or the reputation of their handler. He said that he had called for bloodhounds from someone he knew and had worked with in Pine Mountain: they didn't get there until much later, at which point, too much snow had fallen. When the issue of the bloodhounds was perused, the Sheriff admitted that he figured the handler would later want to be paid and he didn't want to go through the paperwork for using unbudgeted or non-county resources. The county already had a dog handler on contract.
When quizzed about whether budgetary considerations had entered his decision not to take Mr. Manteo's advice, he got very angry and shouted, "He isn't a county recognized contractor. Search and rescue is a job for people on the County payroll."
Mr. Willard was cool and let the jury observe Sheriff Bogend's embarrassment for a long minute before he dismissed the witness.
In cross-examination, the defense attorney tried to restore Sheriff Bogend's credibility, but, the damage was done.
Steve Manteo was called after the Sheriff. He recalled his experience the night of Lucy's loss. His testimony was right along the deposition you provided me in the background papers. At the end of his testimony he was visibly moved, almost crying. The jury saw that.
Candice Montgomery was called and did a good job of explaining how people can mind-to-mind communicate at a subconscious level through The Cloud of eight-dimensional space. I had read the background paper by her that you gave me. I really understood her ideas after her testimony. The jury seemed attentive throughout her testimony.
She said that because of the lateness of the hour she would delay showing her video tomorrow morning.
Dr. Peter Gallagher testified that he and some of his colleagues had reviewed her work and could fi
nd no fault in it.
The judge adjoined the court at five–fifteen.