Southern Bell Murders

The Start

I walked into work and the entire place was a buzz. Rhodes ran up to me. "We have our work cut out for us today. Three missing person cases," he said. "Alright. Tell me," I said. "All of them were women between 24 and 27. First on is 26-year-old Leigh Andrews. She went missing last Friday. Reported missing by her aunt. She was last seen leaving a bar with her best friend Chantel Rodriguez," he said. "Well let's question the best friend," I suggested. Rhodes shook his head. "Let me finish. The next one is 27-year-old Chantel Rodriguez. Also went missing last Friday. She was reported missing by her roommate. She was last seen leaving a bar with Leigh Andrews. And the last case is 24-year-old Daniela Russo. She went missing last Saturday. Reported missing by her mother. Last seen at a church gathering," he finished. I was handed the case files and I sat down at my desk. "Anything connected or similar?" I asked. "The church Daniela was last seen at is on the same street as the bar Leigh and Chantel were last seen. But besides that, no,'' Rhodes told me. I looked through the cases files. Daniela is a 5'1 white girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Leigh is 5'4 white girl with brown hair and green eyes. Chantel is a 6'1 Hispanic girl with brown hair and brown eyes. "I say let's talk to the families and see what we can get," I said. Rhodes nodded.
We drove to the home of Leigh's parents and Chantel's parents were there as well. "Hello, I am Detective Addison and this is my partner Detective Arlington. We are here to get some information about Leigh and Chantel's disappearance. " They let us in. Both mothers were in tears. "Tell us about the last time you saw your daughters," I said. Chantel's mother shook her head. "Chantel and Leigh were going to celebrate one of their friends birthdays at the bar. Chantel was in this red knee-length dress and these black heels. Leigh was in a blue halter top with jean shorts," she said. Rhodes was writing everything down. "Do you know who they were with at the bar?" he asked. "Yeah, Gia Langley and Ean Perkins," Leigh's mother answered.
After an hour of questioning the family, we tracked down the last people that were with Chantel and Leigh. The young woman was just shaking and sobbing and the gentleman was just shaking his head. "How do you two know Miss Rodriguez and Miss Andrews?'' Rhodes asked. "We work with them. We were out celebrating my birthday at the bar," Gia answered. "When did you last see them?" I asked. "We were all supposed to leave around Midnight, but Gia and I wanted to stay longer. So Leigh and Chantel called an Uber. We watched them walk out, or well Leigh was stumbling out, and they got into the car. We didn't hear from them again after that," the young man said. Gia was sobbing hysterically.
We watched security cameras from that night at the bar, but we couldn't get a licences plate number on the car Leigh and Chantel got into. Rhodes and I both just had a bad feeling. "Two drunk girls stumbling out of a bar, seems like the perfect target. Maybe just got lured into a car," Rhodes sighed looking at his notes. "I know. I just feel like those girls aren't coming home," I said. "Anything on the Daniela Russo case?" Rhodes shook his head. "Detective Biggs interviewed her family and the last people who saw her. Nothing! No one saw where she walked or anything. And no security cameras!" he yelled. I laid my head down in frustration.
Then the door flung open. "Addison! Arlington!" my co-worker, Detective Quinn yelled. "What is it Quinn?" I asked. She stopped to take a breath. "Two things! We pinged Leigh Andrews cell phone location. And we got another missing persons case," she said. She handed me the case file. "Lets get driving to the cell phone and we'll discuss this case in the car," I said. Rhodes nodded.
Rhodes was driving to the scene where the pinged Leigh's phone and I was going through the case file. "22-year-old Dayton Jesher. He went missing last Saturday and was reported missing by his husband. He was last seen selling puppies on Park Street," I said. Rhodes face automatically had a look of shock on his face. "Park street? As in the same Park Street Leigh Andrews, Chantel Rodriguez, and Daniela Russo disappeared on?" My eyes widened. "Yeah," I responded. Rhodes shook his head. "Something's going on," he muttered, "what's his description?" I looked back through the file. "African-American male. He's 5'7 and 200 lbs. Was last seen wearing a Slipknot t-shirt and blue jeans,".
We pulled up to the scene and was met by a few other detectives and forensics. "Got it?" I asked. I was guided over to the phone. It was cracked and covered in dirt. "Only five minutes away from where they went missing," Rhodes muttered. We were in a wooded area. "Yeah, but why would her phone end up in the middle of the woods?" "Send this to the lab to get it processed for finger prints or any DNA. Keep an eye out for some more evidence!" Rhodes called. I walked back further into the woods, looking for anything else. Then I saw something in the bushes. I ran up to it. It was a license plate. "Arlington!" I yelled. Rhodes ran over. He took a look at it. "Why is this in the middle of the woods? I'm gonna take this to forensics. Something just feels off.