The Girl in the Leaves

by Robert Scott

  Larry and his family were stunned when they got the news that Sarah was alive. His first thoughts were filled with elation. “My daughter is alive!” And then the implication of what he’d just heard hit him hard; nothing had been said about Kody, Tina or Stephanie. What had happened to them? Were they alive as well?

  Larry hurried to the hospital. He recalled, “It was all surreal going into the place. I don’t even know what I was thinking by that point. I was beyond thinking. I went into a room, and there she was. We just both went over and hugged each other. We didn’t say a word. Just hugged each other as tightly as we could. I was crying like a baby. This went on for ten or fifteen minutes before we said anything.”

  All day long there had been a mob of reporters swirling around the Maynard residence, KCSO headquarters, Matthew Hoffman’s residence. Diana Oswalt did her best to help the Maynard family cope with the reporters and to shield them from the media onslaught coming in from all sides, though in many ways, it was just as new to her as it was to the Maynards. Nothing of this magnitude had ever befallen any of them before.

  * * *

  Later that Sunday, Sheriff David Barber held a press conference. He announced, “We have good news to report today. We have located and rescued Sarah Maynard at approximately 8:00 AM this morning. She was being held against her will, and she was in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries. She was taken to the hospital for evaluation. She has been interviewed somewhat. In the house with her was an individual from Mount Vernon. He is now in the Knox County Jail currently charged with kidnapping. His name is Matthew J. Hoffman, and he is thirty years old. We believe Sarah was under the control of Mr. Hoffman since last Wednesday in one form or another and at one location or another.”

  There were of course a lot of questions about Matthew Hoffman from reporters. To these, Sheriff Barber replied, “We are unsure at this time if Hoffman was acquainted with the family. That remains to be seen as the investigation continues. Mr. Hoffman does have a prior conviction in Colorado, for which he served prison time. Mr. Hoffman’s residence on Columbus Road is currently being processed by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. It is being considered a crime scene and treated as such.”

  To a question about whether Tina, Kody and Stephanie were dead, Barber answered, “As of right now, we have no one we are aware of who is deceased. Tomorrow, we hope DNA testing can begin. We have been assured this will be considered a priority case by the BCI&I.”

  * * *

  After Matt Hoffman was arrested and Sarah Maynard was freed from her basement captivity, BCI&I agents began the long process of collecting, photographing and cataloguing the evidence at Matthew Hoffman’s home.

  BCI&I Special Agent Gary Wilgus wrote later, “The residence was photographed as it was found, room by room, starting on the ground floor. I then photographed the basement area as it was found. At the bottom of the stairway just to the left was a hole cut through the block wall leading into a dark room where blankets and bedding had been placed on the leaf covered floor.”

  BCI&I Agent George Staley Jr. was also at Hoffman’s house and photographed the whole residence, room by room, placing numbered placards at each key area. Item number 1 was a pair of Starter brand athletic shoes that had characteristics similar to the footwear impressions found in Tina Herrmann’s house. Item 2 was a pair of boots that matched some of the other impressions found at the house.

  Item 3 was a camouflaged T-shirt identical to the one the individual caught on the security camera tape had been wearing at Walmart around midnight on November 10. The next item of significance, item 5, was a Canon PowerShot A470 camera found in a dresser drawer on the ground floor. The camera was later accessed and photographs of Sarah Maynard were identified on the camera. These were photos of Sarah during her ordeal at Hoffman’s house.

  Another item of importance, number 5.2, was a leather sap or blackjack found in the same dresser, and item 6 was a large SOG brand sheath-type knife, also found in the dresser drawer. Item 9 was a piece of rope found in the basement at the bottom of the stairway. Law enforcement officers later informed Staley that this piece of rope had been used to bind Sarah and had been cut by them to preserve the original knots. Other items included a roll of gray duct tape, and a blue blanket that had been used to cover Sarah. Also in the basement area were a sweatshirt, two more blankets, a pillow and more gray duct tape.

  Three computers were found in various parts of the house, as well as one thousand dollars in cash stuffed inside an envelope. An LG brand flip phone was collected from the ground floor, a Casio flip phone from one kitchen drawer and a Motorola flip phone from another.

  Though two of the most interesting items discovered in the residence were a bone and an apparent bloodstain, later testing would prove that neither came from a human.

  EIGHTEEN

  “I Knew I Had Done Something Wrong”

  The Mount Vernon News was one of the first print news organizations to report Sarah’s recovery. The headline stated, “One found; man in custody; search continues.”

  Reporters started scrambling in every direction, talking to Matt Hoffman’s neighbors on Columbus Road, digging into his past, going out to where Larry Maynard lived in Franklin County.

  Dawna Davis, Hoffmann’s next-door neighbor, told reporters she started keeping her children away from Hoffman because he was so weird. She said, “The only interaction I had with him was over his dog. I talked to the man through a window about his dog attacking our dog in our yard.” She went on to describe the way Hoffman had interacted with her children, and his actions against his girlfriend before she’d left him.

  As for the Sunday morning SWAT raid at Hoffmann’s home, Davis said, “I had just gotten up and was on the computer talking to my aunt, and heard a great big boom. I opened my window and saw all those officers with their guns drawn. I didn’t know what was going on!”

  Dawna and her three children had to stay in their house, by orders of the police, until 2:00 PM Sunday. As soon as she was given the all-clear from the police, Dawna grabbed her kids and dog and left the house in a hurry.

  In a more detailed news conference, Sheriff David Barber related to reporters how the SWAT raid had rescued Sarah Maynard and was the result of investigative efforts by sheriff’s office detectives and others. Barber said, “Unfortunately, as of this time, we have not located Tina, Stephanie or Kody. Hoffman has not given us any information and has not been cooperative at this point. The residence on Columbus Road is currently being processed by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. It’s being considered a crime scene and treated as such.”

  Sheriff Barber went on to say that “a significant amount of blood” had been found in Tina Herrmann’s residence on King Beach Drive. He added that police had searched sections of Apple Valley Lake and Foundation Park, where a wooded area was now taped off. This probably came about because some of Matt Hoffman’s neighbors told FBI agents that Hoffman often took walks through there. There was a section where a former gravel pit had been turned into a recreation area with small ponds. Authorities were concerned about what those ponds might hold.

  Barber related that aircraft from the Ohio State Highway Patrol were flying over locations in the county, using infrared scanners. Other officers were on quad runners, going over the rural areas of the county.

  * * *

  Before the news of Sarah’s rescue had begun to spread, friends, family and concerned citizens of Apple Valley had gathered at the Apple Valley Property Owner’s Association office on Sunday, November 14, 2010, to start a new day of searching. Stephen Thompson, Stephanie’s father, thanked all of the volunteers for their time, and then volunteers Jennifer and Brian Kessler, who were coordinating volunteer efforts, organized the people into groups and gave them directions as to where to begin their searches. Around three hundred peopl
e showed up that day.

  The Kesslers also gave out these instructions: “We ask that if you find something, to back away, mark where you saw it and immediately call the sheriff’s office. We don’t want to ruin anything, so please be careful. If there are any locations you think we should check out, please let us know.”

  The volunteers headed out in teams. One team of nine, headed by Brian Kessler, went down Magers Road to a location along Little Jelloway Creek, while another team that included Robin Scoles, who was just one of many volunteers, searched around Bennett Park and Skyline Drive. Robin told a reporter, “If it was me or my daughter missing, I would want people to look for us.”

  And then volunteers’ cell phones started ringing with the news that Sarah Maynard had been found alive. It brought both hope and fear about the fate of the others. If one had been found alive, maybe the others would be too—but if so, why hadn’t they been with Sarah, and why was there so much blood in Tina Herrmann’s home?

  While some decided to give up searching once Sarah had been found, others poured in to start new search groups. In one of these was Elizabeth Foor, who described herself as a concerned parent. She said, “I have two daughters, and it’s so sad to hear this has happened. I knew I had to come out to help.”

  One search party found two shirts along a gravel road on the east side of Apple Valley. The shirts looked as if they had been ripped and were draped over a tree limb. Felicia White, a friend of Stephanie Sprang’s, phoned KCSO to inform them of what they had just found. She thought one of the shirts might have been something Stephanie had worn. Awhile later, a KCSO deputy arrived, took the shirt and thanked the volunteers for their efforts.

  Felicia later told a reporter, “I’m so thankful for all the prayers and community support. When I heard about what happened, I knew I couldn’t let it go. I had to help. I just want everyone to know that [Stephanie’s] a great person and a great mom. She would never leave her kids for any reason. I’m not going to give up. Never going to give up until they’re found.”

  * * *

  Because of the discovery of Sarah alive, the complaint against Matthew Hoffman was enlarged by Detective David Light. He noted in the formal complaint that “on or about the 11th day of November 2010, Matthew J. Hoffman did commit kidnapping, by force, threat or deception. He did remove Sarah Maynard from the place where she was found, with the purpose to facilitate the commission of a felony of flight thereafter, a felony of the first degree.”

  With Sarah safe, the KCSO officers had much to do at the house on Columbus Road. Sergeant Troy Glazier recalled, “Once the scene was secure, Deputy Minot started a crime scene log. This was shortly turned over to [Detective Craig] Feeney, who logged everyone entering the scene. A convoy of BCI&I and FBI vehicles came to the location once it was secured to begin processing evidence. [Detective] Feeney and I briefly spoke with an FBI Agent and advised him of our entry and some things we observed inside the residence as well as our contact with Sarah.

  Captain Shaffer requested that we leave two ESU Team members at the scene to assist them. [Detective] Feeney stayed to continue the crime scene log, and Patrolman [Tim] Arnold also stayed to assist with anything else that was needed. The rest of the MVPD ESU team loaded up and went to the police department for a short debriefing.” To say they had had an eventful morning was to compare a hill to Mount Everest.

  Matthew Hoffman had, of course, been booked at the KCSO headquarters. It was noted that he was Caucasian, stood six feet, one inch tall, and weighed 185 pounds. His hair and eyes were brown. He had recently turned thirty; his date of birth was noted as November 1, 1980.

  Hoffman’s clothing was taken from him and stored as evidence. Items included a pair of black sweatpants, a white T-shirt, a red sweatshirt, one pair of white socks and a blue and yellow hat. He also had to submit to two buccal DNA swabs and two penis swabs.

  Concurrent to all the dramatic events happening on Columbus Road, FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas and KCSO Lieutenant Gary Rohler had been in Apple Valley, talking with Matthew Hoffman’s mother and stepfather. As they were speaking with the parents, Rohler was suddenly informed that the suspect was in custody, and was requested to come in to help interview Hoffman.

  As soon as Lieutenant Rohler arrived at KCSO headquarters, he met with Detective Sergeant Roger Brown and the two men went in to interview Hoffman. Hoffman was read his rights and shown the KCSO statement of rights form. He waived his right to a lawyer, but from the very beginning Hoffman refused to answer any questions put to him by either Rohler or Brown. He pantomimed that his heart was broken, but did not utter a word during questioning, which lasted for hours. Of course, the main questions were, “Where are Tina, Kody and Stephanie, and are they still alive?” But Hoffman gave no clue as to what their fates might have been.

  Detective Sergeant Brown noted during this time, “For over the next three hours we attempted to get Matthew to speak to us, but he would not respond. On occasion he would nod his head and drink his water, but continued not to speak. He would close his eyes for long periods of time, put his head down on the desk and occasionally shed tears.” The videotaped session also revealed that at times, Hoffman would yawn.

  The interrogation went on and on despite Hoffman’s irresponsiveness. Finally BCI&I Special Agent Joe Dietz entered the room and after about fifteen minutes, was able to convince Hoffman to speak the first words he’d said to anyone for several hours. Hoffman said that he was having a hard time figuring out what had happened. Then, after a long pause, he claimed that he’d “found” Sarah in his house, so he figured that he must have done something wrong.

  Hoffman continued with this bizarre version of events: “I found her in the house and she was tied up. So I took care of her. I found her on Thursday and I didn’t know how she had gotten there, but she told me I had ‘done it.’ I knew I had done something wrong, but I didn’t know what it was and I was trying to piece things together.”

  Hoffman added that he didn’t know Sarah prior to coming across her tied up in his basement. After making these few statements, Hoffman once again became unresponsive to all questioning. Since they were getting nowhere, the officers concluded the interview a short time later on Sunday evening.

  NINETEEN

  A Flood of Tips

  Authorities continued their work at Hoffman’s house, photographing, collecting and cataloguing a variety of items. In addition to the strange drawings on the bathroom wall that Sarah had noticed, the most unusual were the many bags of leaves, which were attached to the walls and scattered around the house. Every square inch of open space along the walls was taken up with these bags. There were also loose leaves scattered around the floor, and bags that had not yet been filled. It was as if the purpose of the whole house was to become a repository for leaves. None of the leaves had been there when Hoffman’s girlfriend moved out only weeks previously.

  Items were being seized from Matt Hoffman’s silver Toyota Yaris as well. These included a used roll of duct tape, a Lowe’s store receipt in a trash bag and a receipt from a Mount Vernon Duchess Shoppe (a gas station convenience store). There was a receipt from McDonald’s, a sandwich container on the backseat and a Walmart bag. Also seized was a small suitcase with tree-climbing gear inside. One of the more ominous findings was a folding saw in a suitcase on the front passenger seat.

  Every bit of evidence was looked at, no matter how small. Anything could hold a clue as to where Tina, Kody and Stephanie were. The items were like scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and the investigators still had no idea what the total puzzle looked like.

  On November 14, a strange call came in to KCSO at 7:36 PM. A message sheet was notated, “Detectives, Captain or Whoever—Ron Metcalf is demanding to speak with someone about yesterday and wants a protection order.” Just what the protection order was all about was not mentioned on the form.

 
Around the same time, a Kelly G left a message for Captain Shaffer: “There is a smell outside the humane society. It smells like something decaying.” And a woman who would not give her name told detectives to check the Caves Campground.

  A man named Mike M reported, “I was friends with Matt Hoffman before he went to Colorado. Matthew is very familiar with the Apple Valley clubhouse area and also the spillway area.” Then Mike said that Hoffman had been hanging around with a certain male friend since getting back from Colorado, and Mike gave that person’s name.

  Matt Cox, principal of Mount Vernon Middle School, related that a student told him that he used to go swimming with Matthew Hoffman and “do other things” with him. KCSO later contacted this student.

  Larry H told the dispatcher at KCSO, “Friday evening, by Riverside Park, there was a guy, tall and thin, looking over the bridge. He had a kid with him who looked to be about six to ten years old.”

  And Carolyn H noted that on Thursday night after dark, at 7:00 PM, she heard a vehicle stop by a tan house to the right of hers, directly behind which were some woods. She heard someone get out of the vehicle. The person was nearby, and she could hear a lot of rustling of leaves. It scared her so badly she ran back into her house.

  People also called to share specific details about Matthew Hoffman. A man told KCSO, “Matthew Hoffman likes to cut through Foundation Park with his car. He almost hit me there one day.”

  Kathy M said, “Heard a long thud and loud scream at about 3:30 AM in the morning earlier in the week.” This was in an area near Hoffman’s residence.

  An individual named Mike B related that on Wednesday, November 10, between 3:00 and 4:00 PM, he was on the Kokosing Gap Trail heading west just past the railroad bridge and there were two people below the bridge. Mike said, “There was a girl sitting on her butt with her hands behind her. A man was kneeling in front of her. The female had some clothes laying in front of her.”