The Girl in the Leaves

by Robert Scott

  Sheriff Barber said, “He has not. But as the sheriff of the county, who is responsible for the operation of the jail, I have to comply with Ohio’s minimum standards, if an inmate exhibits any behavior or any indication that they may harm themselves. It’s my responsibility to protect that person from doing that. So that’s why he’s wearing the suicide gown.”

  A reporter asked, “Did he threaten to commit suicide?”

  Barber began to reply, “He gave indications to the jail staff and investigators—” then cut himself off and ended with, “Well, until a mental health professional says otherwise, he’ll be in the suicide gown.”

  The sheriff was asked if he could talk about specific areas that had been searched. To this Barber said, “A lot of the searches were centered at Foundation Park. There were some other areas around Gambier and Kenyon College. Mostly around where the pickup truck was recovered. The searches have expanded anywhere between the crime scene on King Beach Drive to where the pickup truck was found to Matthew Hoffman’s house on Columbus Road. Our priority is to find Stephanie, Tina and Kody, but we also have to look for evidence that may have been left by Hoffman anywhere between King Beach Drive and his house.”

  A reporter asked if any significant evidence had been found so far. With all the trash bags and items of clothing found in roadside ditches and elsewhere, the reporter wondered how much the sheriff’s office could take in. Barber said that all items that were deemed as possibly being connected to the case would be looked at. Then he added, “One thing we will have for you tomorrow are photographs of the clothing worn by Kody, Tina for sure, and hopefully Stephanie. Clothing they were wearing the last time anyone saw them. We’re in the process of getting these photos. Most of them are from videos from the school, businesses and places where they may have been when last seen. We want to get those out to you guys in the media, so that if someone sees a hooded sweatshirt for instance somewhere”—Kody Maynard had last been seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt—“they won’t think, ‘Oh, that just fell out of someone’s truck.’”

  One reporter wanted to know if the trash bags that had been found at Tina’s residence and traced back to a Walmart were significant. Barber did not respond directly, saying, “We have recovered significant evidence in this case, but I’m not going to be specific.”

  “When you say ‘significant,’ you mean involving the young girl, or the three missing people?”

  Barber replied, “The entire case.”

  “Can you shed any light into how Matt Hoffman got into that house and got those people under his control?”

  Barber answered that it was a speculative question and not something he was going to get into.

  * * *

  By Tuesday, November 16, the crime tape had been removed from around Tina’s residence on King Beach Drive and Greg Borders had been allowed back inside. When Tina’s brothers noticed that the crime tape was gone, they called Larry Maynard about going in to retrieve belongings. Larry said later, “We had to ask Greg’s permission to come inside the house, since he still owned it. He said okay, and I went in with Tina’s brothers. Before I even set one foot inside, they had told me, ‘Larry, prepare yourself [because they had already been inside]. Once you go in, all your questions about Tina, Kody and Stephanie are going to be answered.’

  “I went inside and was absolutely shocked. I had expected some blood, but nothing like this! There was blood everywhere. On the walls, on the carpet. Large amounts of it. I had still held out hope for Tina and Kody up until then, although things didn’t look good. But at that moment I knew they were dead. No one lost that amount of blood and was still alive.

  “I went into Kody’s room, sat down on his bed and started bawling. I couldn’t stop crying. Greg was standing nearby just shaking his head. He didn’t say a word. It was so weird—I was crying my eyes out and he was absolutely silent.

  “I wanted to get some of Kody’s things to take with me,” Larry related. “Greg just said to take what I wanted, and then he left the room.

  “I got Kody’s shirts and clothes, especially his baseball uniforms. I also took his trophies and baseball card collection. I noticed there were candy wrappers everywhere. Kody loved candy and had stashed candy in drawers and all over the room. I picked up his PlayStation and then got the guitar I’d bought him. It was unreal. Here were all his things, but I knew he was gone.

  “Sarah wanted some of her mom’s clothing, especially the Dairy Queen sweatshirts she had. I got those and some of Sarah’s clothes. The sheriff’s office had some of Tina’s jewelry. It was still evidence at that point. I didn’t get much out of Sarah’s room. When I was in there I noticed blood spatters on the wall and a lot of blood on the carpet. No one told me at that time, but I learned later that was where Matthew Hoffman killed Stephanie.

  “I took all of these things and put them in my car. I was in a state of shock. It was like I would wake up from this and it would all be a nightmare. But I didn’t wake up. It just went on and on.”

  * * *

  Volunteers and professional teams continued to search the woods near Tina Herrmann’s residence for more clues. Other teams searched along a bike path near the parking lot where Tina Herrmann’s pickup truck had been found. And more unused gravel pits were searched as well. By now the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) was also helping out on the case. They sent two dog teams with handlers to search the Kokosing Gap Trail.

  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was also giving assistance to KCSO. NCMEC Executive Director Bob Wally explained, “We provide analytical support from a center as well as mapping services for ground searches. We have some of the best resources in the country. We maintain databases where information on individuals can be shared immediately. There are also search dogs available if needed.”

  In addition, NCMEC offered case analysis support as well as the services of its forensic imaging unit and photo distribution division. As Wally explained, “As far as search methods and how much we are used, it’s all up to the local officials. We will do as much or as little as they request.”

  Reporters, meanwhile, were trying to learn everything they could about Matt Hoffman, including his stint in a Colorado prison for robbery and arson at the condominium complex in Steamboat Springs. One reporter of the Mount Vernon News contacted attorney Charles Feldmann, who had prosecuted Hoffman there. Feldmann said, “He just struck me as someone who had a horrific appetite, a premeditated appetite, to cause that kind of damage and the potential loss of life. You just don’t see those kinds of people in small rural towns.”

  The Mount Vernon News interviewed many local townspeople, who offered their unique perspectives on the tragedy. Sandy McQuigg, who was picking up her grandson at Columbia Elementary School when stopped by the reporter, said, “In small-town America, we like to think we’re still safe.” In fact, this was a common theme coming from many people in the area. They could not believe that Mount Vernon and Apple Valley had become the scenes of such horrific crimes.

  Seventy-two-year-old Ted Dingler recounted how the sermon at his church on Sunday had been changed by the pastor to reflect on the incident. The pastor had asked the congregation to meditate and pray for the missing. Dingler declared that you could have heard a pin drop in the church.

  Even at the public library, the situation was on everyone’s minds. Employees were gathered around a television, watching the news. Krista Smith, whose daughter went to school with Sarah, said, “We’re all glued to the television in hopes of finding out why this happened.” On a window at the Dairy Queen where Tina worked, a sign stating “Pray for our missing families” had replaced the daily specials.

  Journalists spoke to Hoffman’s former supervisor at Fast Eddy’s grounds-keeping and tree-trimming service, Sandy Burd, who recounted how Hoffman seemed like a normal guy at first but then became inc
reasingly strange. “He would just stare into space. And he oversold his tree-trimming experience,” she told them. Richard Burch, of Burch Tree Care, related that Matthew Hoffman had worked for him as a tree-trimmer from October 28 through November 3. Burch said he was aware that Hoffman drove two different vehicles, the silver Yaris and a red Dodge Neon. Burch added, “Matthew is very knowledgeable with trees and ropes, and he always had several rolls of rope in the Yaris.”

  The newspapers published information from the police report filed October 24, 2010, by Hoffman’s former girlfriend, in which she described Hoffman pushing her to the floor and choking her. That incident occurred only seventeen days before the crimes at Tina Herrmann’s residence.

  Reporters once again spoke with Matt Hoffman’s neighbor, Dawna Davis. She repeated some of the things she’d said to the media before, and added that the whole situation was “crazy.” She said that Hoffman had “seemed like a decent guy at first.” And then she reiterated how he had become very “weird” in her estimation.

  Ron Fowler, Dawna’s live-in boyfriend, related, “He was really weird about the squirrels. We were feeding them and he killed them!” Ron also noted Hoffman’s affinity for trees. “He was an athletic guy and he’d climb up into those trees.”

  As to the present circumstances, Ron said, “I saw him on Friday [November 12] with his backpack walking towards the old gravel pit in Foundation Park. It was an area he knew well. My son even went swimming in that gravel pit with him.”

  Dawna said that she had seen Hoffman poking around in his backyard fire pit one night the previous week. She added, “I feel so bad that I was right here and didn’t hear anything . . . That basement where [Sarah] was, it was so dark and dirty that Hoffman’s girlfriend wouldn’t let the dog down there. And the worst thing was, I went outside that week and would shout my daughter’s name. Her name is Sarah too. I might have given Sarah Maynard false hope. Every time I yelled for my daughter, Sarah Maynard probably thought someone was going to help her.”

  * * *

  Stephanie Sprang’s father, Stephen Thompson, went on WBNS TV and said that the family still held out hope for the rescue of the three missing people. Stephen stated, “If Stephanie can hear us out there, I want her to know, and hopefully she can feel our thoughts, that we will get her back. Your mom, me, your whole family—we’re all looking for you.”

  Stephen added that the entire situation was beyond comprehension and they barely knew how to cope with it, other than to keep searching for Stephanie and hope that she was still alive.

  Tip after tip barraged the KCSO phone lines, and they all had to be taken into consideration.

  Duct-taped trash bags were discovered by a volunteer alongside a road in eastern Knox County, about a half mile from where Tina Herrmann’s pickup truck had been located by Officer Aaron Phillips, and where he had also spotted Matthew Hoffman sitting in his Toyota Yaris. Though duct-taped trash bags were suspicious under the circumstances, nothing ultimately came of the finding.

  Selena R called in to report that her uncle used to work with Hoffman. Supposedly Hoffman had said at one time, “Small’s Sand and Gravel would be a good place to put bodies.” Officers went to Small’s, a local construction materials company, to check out the lead, but no bodies were discovered there.

  A woman who would not give her name phoned KCSO and said that a lot on the 900 block of High Street in Mount Vernon needed to be checked. According to this woman, Hoffman had a treehouse there and it was filled with tools and other equipment.

  Another tipster reported, “I was stopped by a female in Grand Island, Nebraska, seeking money for gas. She was travelling with a mother and son. I asked her destination and she said it was Colorado.” This brought up the remote possibility that Matt Hoffman had a female accomplice who was taking Tina and Kody to Colorado.

  Tiffany S said, “At the spillway on Knox Lake, off of Woodview Lane, there are three trash bags. One has a shoe sticking out of it.” Another person reported that something blue could be seen in the water of the nearby lake. And she indicated that the something blue might be an article of clothing.

  Kim P related that she had a friend who used to date Matthew Hoffman, and gave authorities the name. She also said that a man nicknamed Opie used to hang around with Hoffman a lot.

  A man named Fred declared that he had passed a Toyota Yaris with a dent off of Harcourt and Columbus Road on Thursday morning, November 11, between 7:00 and 7:30 AM.

  In the realm of intriguing but ultimately useless information, a man who would not give his name declared that he worked at a barber shop in Mount Vernon and a customer recently came in and wanted to give him a knife that he’d found in the Walmart parking lot. This caller said there had possibly been blood on the knife and that he didn’t want it. The caller didn’t know who the man was who wanted to give him the knife, and had no idea of where that person or the knife might be now. All the investigators inquiries about this alleged knife got nowhere, and most likely was not part of the crime scene on King Beach Drive.

  Greg V reported that near a small waterfall on Magers Road he’d found a bloody surgical glove.

  Patty K related that a man on High Street named Carl was friends with Matt Hoffman, and that the two men had been up in trees on Carl’s place many times. Hoffman had even created a pulley system in the tree so items could be hauled up into the branches.

  Aaron P related that he used to party with Matt Hoffman. This had been on Caves Road near some waterfalls. A K-9 team was sent to that area, but they found nothing related to the crime.

  On Wednesday, November 17, Debra Hawkins contacted Lieutenant Gary Rohler and said that she worked in corrections. She had a theory that if Sarah hadn’t been sexually assaulted (she had been, but that news had not been released to the media yet), that perhaps the suspect had been holding her to be sold later into the sex-slave trade. Debra related that if that was the case, “more people are involved.” She added, “Being a mother, I know that I would have put up one hell of a fight to protect my children.” Debra surmised that was why there had been so much blood in Tina’s residence.

  Bryant G said that he had once lived next to Matt Hoffman on Columbus Road and that they’d gone a lot of places together. One of those places was Wolf Run. “Matt was just a very strange person,” Bryant said, mentioning that Hoffman had had a frequent male visitor who drove “a Toyota 4Runner, gray or light blue in color.” It was “a 1990s model.” More important, Bryant said he had seen Tina’s Ford pickup truck near Hoffman’s residence on Wednesday night, November 10, at around 11 PM. It had been parked in the alley in back of Hoffman’s residence. Either Wednesday or Thursday night, Bryant had seen Hoffman out in back of his house near a fire in the backyard. Just why Bryant had seen all this activity, he didn’t say in his tip.

  A call from another tipster, Brian F, seemed to corroborate Bryant’s claim that Tina’s truck had been parked at Hoffman’s place. Brian told authorities that one of his coworkers lived next to Hoffman, and this person had seen Tina’s pickup parked next to Hoffman’s place on Wednesday, November 10. This made investigators wonder if Hoffman had taken the truck there at some point after he’d entered Tina’s home and kidnapped Sarah.

  Todd K related that he had seen Hoffman in Dutch’s Bar on Tuesday night, November 9. It had been late at night, and Todd had said, “What’s up?” Hoffman replied, “Not much.” Hoffman stayed only five minutes or so. When he was leaving, Todd said to him, “I’ll see you later,” to which Hoffman replied, “No, you won’t.” Todd added, “He was a weird individual.” Todd also stated that he’d seen Hoffman’s silver Yaris with a dent in an alley off of Pleasant Street, two times between 2:00 and 3:00 AM on Wednesday, November 10. There had been a single occupant in the car wearing a hoodie and a ball cap.

  A woman who would give her name only as Melissa said that Tina always wore a s
ixteen-inch diamond-cut chain with a dolphin attached. The dolphin was a yellow – and rose-gold charm, and she never took it off.

  Detective Sergeant Roger Brown and BCI&I Special Agent Gary Wilgus went to the East Knox Middle School and examined Kody’s and Sarah’s lockers. They secured evidence from both lockers for DNA purposes. They also spoke with the school’s information technology manager about the school’s surveillance video for November 10, 2010.

  Ron Metcalf, Stephanie’s boyfriend, said he had received a text from someone claiming that Stephanie had been seen with Matt Hoffman buying plumbing products. The person who texted him could not recall the date or time.

  TWENTY-THREE

  The Hunt for a Miracle

  On-the-ground searches continued apace on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. One five-man team consisted of volunteers who had skills in tracking and search and rescue. These men came from Bucyrus, Delaware, and Marion, Ohio, towns far afield of Apple Valley. One of the men, Jon Reed, said, “We did not come looking to find bodies. We just wanted to help look for clues. Especially near water areas where someone could easily place a person or a body. We searched around the bike path and the Brown Family Environmental Center. We also went out to the quarry.”

  They searched the area around Small’s Sand and Gravel near Gambier, because apparently Matthew Hoffman had worked there at one time. Reed explained, “We found some trash and a couple of old shoes—nothing fresh. You look for things like drag marks, tire tracks or freshly moved dirt in wild settings. If I was in the same situation, I’d want a million people out searching for my family.”

  Despite the fact that Jon Reed said the volunteers weren’t searching for bodies, a headline in the Mount Vernon News summed up the feeling of many on November 17: