During the interim we learned the sad news of the death of the Alabama Deputy Sheriff who was shot multiple times after stopping the kidnapper of eight year old Jennifer Morley. Her body was later discovered, tossed on a Mississippi roadside. Deputy Baxton had called in after seeing the plate number of a car listed on an all-points bulletin. Baxton worked in a rural county where backup wasn't readily available so he'd approached the car alone.
"The plate was stolen at a South Carolina mall," Brennan told me. "This is definitely the same guy that killed the Delaware girl we nearly caught. He's linked to other kidnappings and killings as well. Most of the bodies haven't been recovered but he likes to take his victims while they're sleeping. He travels across the country."
Unfortunately, we didn't learn of the murder until a week after it occurred, making it impossible for Howie to "witness" the scene. There was nothing at this time we could do to stop this serial killer of children.
According to Brennan, it was estimated between thirty and fifty serial killers operated in the United States at any given time. Of these, eleven were abductors of children and garnered special attention by the FBI. We agreed to prioritize those where possible. Howie obsessed over the recent incident, a man now twice able to foil his efforts.
I decided to pick Daniel Brennan's brains on the matter Howie's sister Annie's abduction. Annie, taken fifteen years ago, was the main impetus of Howie's obsession with missing children. I remembered the name Martha mentioned, Willard Humphries, thought guilty, but jailed for a lesser crime. To ask Brennan directly might lead to us so I made up a story we were checking old cases to see if someone released from prison might have returned to this type of crime. I mentioned finding the old name of Willard Humphries and asked if Brennan could check if he'd been released.
Each of us took turns thanking Merrill Cooms personally on the phone although he insisted it was unnecessary. He now knew there were five of us although no other information was conveyed to him. He seemed genuinely pleased with our general description of our newly created operation. He reiterated he'd made no move to learn of our location or names. Both he and Daniel Brennan became sounding boards without being intrusive.
"I see you're getting some publicity," Mr. Cooms said during one of my calls. "Do you have any thoughts on the subject?"
"Only to see how it plays out," I answered. "There's not much we can do as I see it."
"This sort of speculation is going to intensify. The public loves a mystery and you certainly are one."