07x06 - Meet Me at Midnight

[bunniefuu]

[ominous music playing]

[phone rings]

[narrator] An anonymous phone call...

Who's this?

[narrator] ...leads to a mystery disappearance.

[Det. Witt] What he saw ended up

being his worst nightmare.

He just vanished.

And that's not something Ryan does.

[narrator] Investigators searched for answers.

The hope was to find Ryan alive and well.

We were against the clock.

[narrator] And reveal a brutal truth.

And it was so all unnecessary.

[theme music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Twenty-four- year-old, Ryan Lane

is enjoying his favorite passion,

along with a friend, Carla Meikle.

So, I see I'm so whipping you.

Oh.

Go, go, go.

Oh, no.

Ugh.

[Carla] Ryan was a fun-loving person.

As long as you're cool with hanging out with him

and chill, that's all that mattered to him.

No.

No, no, no.

He definitely loved his video games.

There wasn't a day went go by

that he'd be challenging someone to see

who could beat him at this game or that.

Yeah, it was awesome.

[dramatic music playing]

[knock on door]

Come in.

Hey.

[narrator] Ryan has been living with his dad, Bruce,

after breaking up with his ex, Sheena Cuthill.

[Bruce sighs]

It's been three years since you and Sheena broke up.

It's time to move on.

[Charlotte] Ryan and Sheena breaking up

did take me by surprise,

mainly because they had been connected

at the hip for so many years.

I just miss Jordan so much, Dad.

I haven't seen her in two years.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Jordan is Ryan and Sheena's

four-year-old daughter.

This photo shows a rare moment of Ryan

and Jordan together.

I don't think Ryan would have ever told you

exactly how he was feeling

about not seeing his daughter,

but you knew that he missed her.

So, when he had texted me and told me

that he was gonna finally see her

and that they were meeting up,

he was like beyond excited.

[dramatic music playing]

Hey. Jordan, your daddy is here.

Oh, nice jump.

You jumped high.

Ryan was an amazing dad.

He loved his daughter with all his heart

and that was his biggest accomplishment.

[Ryan] Hey, Sheena. How are you?

[Sheena] Hi. I'm good.

-How are you? -I was ruling my world.

It's like he brought you something.

-[Ryan] Do you like it? -Yeah.

That's your favorite color, right?

-Yeah. -I knew it.

-[Jordan] Thank you. -[Ryan] No problem.

[dramatic music playing]

[Charlotte] Ryan loved meeting with his daughter.

He posted all these photos.

He sent me a bunch of photos.

I'm sure he sent everyone photos.

He was so happy and he said it was

the best day of his life.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

Who's this?

[Charlotte] He got a phone call from someone

saying that they had a way

to help him get custody,

or a shared custody, or something of Jordan.

You're offering to help me?

So, his first thought is...

"Okay. Let's go talk to this person."

All right.

I will never quite understand

why he was so okay with that.

[ominous music playing]

[phone ringing]

[woman speaking]

[Bruce speaking]

[narrator] Detectives from the Calgary Police Service

raced to the caller's house.

It's important in a missing person's case

to try to timeline the events

prior to their disappearance,

just to see what their activities were,

who they had interacted with.

[narrator] Ryan's dad, Bruce,

becomes the evening's event.

[dramatic music playing]

[Ryan] Hey, Dad, I've gotta go out.

At this time of night?

[Det. Witt] Bruce said his son had gotten a strange call

from an unknown male.

[Ryan] Some guy said he's got some information

that might help me get to see more of Jordan.

They told me to meet them outside of Ricky's Restaurant.

[Bruce scoffs] Right now?

Yeah.

[Det. Witt] Bruce had some real concerns about this.

He thought it was strange, especially that Ryan

was told to come alone.

And Bruce encouraged him not to do this.

Uh, no, don't go.

That sounds odd.

[Det. Witt] Ryan insisted on going but did tell Dad

that he could follow or watch from a distance,

so that's what Bruce did.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Witt] Bruce followed in his vehicle

as Ryan walked on foot to this meet location.

Bruce was able to see what, I believe,

he thought was a male stepped out of the driver side

of the truck.

He did not recognize the vehicle

or the person.

He watched Ryan get into the passenger side

of an older red model GMC truck

with a lot of wood on the back.

[truck engine starts]

[Det. Budd] His father was able to see

that pickup truck carry through an intersection

and that was the last that Ryan was seen.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Witt] What he saw...

ended up being his worst nightmare.

[phone ringing]

Come on, Ry.

Pick up.

What the...

-[beeps] -[phone ringing]

[woman speaking]

[Det. Budd] When you hear something like that and it...

is it a joyride, did he go with this person?

He hasn't heard from him since,

chances are that it wasn't a joyride,

and this was something more than a conversation.

[indistinct] the day?

[Bruce] Well, he left around 1:00 pm to go see his ex

and his daughter, Jordan.

He was really excited.

[Det. Budd] We had been told that Ryan had

meeting at a Chuck E. Cheese

to see his child for the first time

in a period of time.

What was he wearing?

Um, a black jacket

and a white baseball cap.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

[Det. Witt] Bruce's observations of Ryan meeting

this unknown male, describing the truck for us,

and the location and the timeframe,

that was a lot to work with.

We were against the clock and we were really rushing

to try and get Ryan back

as quick as possible and as safe as possible.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] At dawn, police head to the restaurant

where Ryan met the caller.

[Det. Witt] Within that first 48, 72 hours

of an investigation, the surveillance collection

is very critical.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Witt] I don't see anything.

[Det. Budd] Unfortunately, there was no camera footage.

Sometimes, it's not available when you need it.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Detectives accessed Ryan's cell phone

records to try to identify the mystery caller.

[Det. Witt] We were able to trace the number back

to a payphone at the Esso gas station,

which was near the meet location

where Ryan got into the truck.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Witt] We identified that the gas station

does in fact have video surveillance

with cameras that point outside of the store.

Calgary PD.

We're looking to get some CCTV footage

from last night.

Do you have that on site here?

[narrator] The surveillance will need to be retrieved

from a central server

and could take days.

[Det. Witt] Can you please reach out to your head office

as soon as possible to pull that up for us?

-It's pretty urgent. -Sure.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] The restaurant where Ryan met up

with his daughter is their only other lead.

An interior camera covers the entrance.

Can you cue it up to just after one 1:00 pm for me?

[Det. Budd] We wanted top really corroborate that

he was in fact at Chuck E. Cheese,

but who else was there?

Was there anything else that we need to be looking at?

Is there something that happened

that we weren't aware of?

[tense music playing]

That might be her.

[Det. Witt] Rewind.

Play on.

We observed a Caucasian female in her mid-20s

who appeared to be pregnant walking

with a young girl who was identified as Jordan.

Just freeze it right there.

That must be Jordan's mom Sheena.

Play on.

[suspenseful music playing]

Black jacket, white baseball cap.

[Det. Budd] Mmm-hmm.

[Det. Witt] Ryan appears at the Chuck E. Cheese

and he's carrying presents in his hand.

[Det. Budd] Play at double speed.

[tense music playing]

Play on normal speed.

So, that's Sheena carrying

Jordan's gift from Ryan.

[narrator] Nearly two hours after arriving,

Sheena and Jordan leave the restaurant.

Where's Ryan?

[narrator] Five minutes later,

Ryan reappears.

[Det. Jacobs] They stayed a few hours,

they left separately

but there was nothing unusual.

[Det. Witt] It did appear,

consisting with what Bruce described

that Ryan met up and ended up having

a very positive, uh, visit with his daughter Jordan.

There was nothing suspicious or concerning

on the surveillance footage.

[narrator] Investigators reached out

to Ryan's friends.

And, uh, when was the last time you spoke with him?

[Charlotte] Not hearing from Ryan,

it kinda took me by surprise,

because if he didn't have his phone on him,

he would have got a hold of you

through some other device.

[Det. Budd] The hope was to find Ryan alive and well,

but at the back of our minds,

we're aware that it might be more than

just a missing person investigation.

[tense music playing]

[Carla] When we found out Ryan went missing,

a few of us had gone out trying to look for him,

driving around Calgary.

We couldn't see him.

He wasn't at any of the normal spots

we would go and hang out with.

He wasn't posting online.

We couldn't figure out where could he have gone,

why hasn't he called.

He just disappeared.

He just vanished

and that's not something Ryan does.

[narrator] Footage from the Esso gas station

has just come in to the department.

[Det. Budd] With the Esso CCTV,

we were really hoping to catch a glimpse

of the caller or hoped at that point.

With the camera sh**ting at the payphone,

we'd be able to see who made the phone call.

Okay.

[tense music playing]

Damn.

The cameras didn't cover far enough to capture

the Esso payphone,

so unfortunately, we're not gonna be able

to see clearly who would have been using

that payphone.

[narrator] Instead, the camera captures

the entrance to the gas station

and the main road behind.

Detectives looked for the red truck

that Ryan got into.

[Det. Witt] Cue it up to 30 minutes

before Ryan received the call.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Det. Witt] Hold there.

Rewind.

Freeze.

That looks like a red Jeep,

not a red GMC flatbed truck.

[tense music playing]

Rewind.

[tense music playing]

[Det. Witt] We were able to observe the red truck

with the wood in the back that Bruce

had talked about.

Play on.

[narrator] Two minutes later,

the red Jeep drives into the gas station.

[tense music playing]

The video surveillance footage showed

the red Jeep Cherokee and the red truck

with the wood in the back

coming into the Esso gas station

around the same time.

It was very suspicious, these two red vehicles

driving in and out of the frames in tandem,

around the time that the call to Ryan

was made from the payphone.

[narrator] Just after midnight,

the two vehicles leave

and head in the same direction.

[Det. Witt] So, right away, we're very interested

in trying to identify who the drivers

of both the red truck with the wood

and the driver of the red Jeep Cherokee.

Rewind.

Freeze.

[Det. Budd] There was a lot of wood in the back

of that truck.

We couldn't see inside the windows.

As an investigator, when you can't see

what you're hoping to see, it's...

It can be frustrating.

Pull up the picture of the Jeep again.

[Det. Jacobs] It appeared to be a male

but difficult to tell but definitely wearing

a ball cap.

[tense music playing]

Zoom it on the license plate.

[Det. Witt] We were able to grab one or two

letters on the license plate.

That wasn't enough to give us a clear image

of what the actual license plate

was to identify the registered owner of the vehicle.

Can we get it sent to the lab and have it enhanced?

-Yeah. -[Det. Jacobs] It could be

our possible suspect or offender.

[narrator] In Calgary, Ryan's parents unite

in an emotional public plea.

I miss Ryan. I wish you to come home.

Please let the police know if you have any clue

as to where he is.

I just want to thank everybody for helping.

Thanks, guys.

[narrator] This photo which shows what Ryan

looks like is circulated by the police

to aid the investigation.

[tense music playing]

[telephone ringing]

Detective Witt speaking.

Yeah. What have you got?

[narrator] Video technicians have enhanced

the license plate of the red Jeep

on the gas station footage.

[Det. Budd] We're able to identify that it's registered

to the mother of Ryan's child.

[Det. Witt] His ex-girlfriend Sheena

has a red Jeep Cherokee

registered in her name.

[tense music playing]

[narrator] Detectives pay Sheena Cuthill

a visit and record the conversation.

[Det. Witt speaking]

[narrator] She tells them that her husband

Tim Rempel drives the red Jeep.

They then head to the local garage

where he works and record the conversation.

Tim confirms he was driving the red Jeep that day

and drove straight home after work.

Detective shift focus and attempt to track down

the driver of the red GMC truck.

[Det. Witt] When we made inquiries,

we realized that Tim's brother, Will Rempel,

drives a red GMC truck.

And that that was someone we also wanted

to speak to in relation to Ryan's disappearance.

[narrator] Will Rempel lives 35 miles north

of Calgary in a town called Airdrie.

Good afternoon.

I'm Detective Witt. This is Detective Budd,

Calgary PD.

Do you mind if we come in for a moment?

-Thanks. -Tim's brother, Will Rempel

was living in the basement of his parent's residence

and he was operating the red GMC truck

that belonged to his father.

Afternoon.

[Det. Jacobs speaking]

-[Will speaking] -[Det. Jacobs speaking]

[Will speaking]

[narrator] Detectives asked where he was on February 6th,

the evening Ryan disappeared.

[Will speaking]

[Det. Jacobs speaking]

-[Will speaking] -[Det. Jacobs speaking]

[Det. Witt speaking]

[Will speaking]

[narrator] Detectives asked where the red truck is now.

[Will speaking]

[Det. Witt] Will provided this bit of a bizarre story

about what had happened to the truck.

[Will speaking]

[Det. Witt] None of it really added up, but what we knew was that

we didn't have the vehicle

and for all intents and purposes,

that could be our crime scene,

and for sure would give us answers

to what had happened to Ryan.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] Due to the surveillance video,

other small pieces of the investigation

that were slowly coming together,

we were able to gain authority

to get a search warrant for Will's home.

[siren wailing]

[Det. Witt] We were looking for any information

that could suggest where this truck had gone.

[tense music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] When I entered the basement suite,

I was notified that they had noticed

a salvage receipt sticking out of the pocket

of what we believed was Will's jacket.

When I had a look at that salvage receipt,

it was dated February 8th, 2012

for a hundred and twenty-eight dollars

and forty cents.

That's just two days after

the evening that Ryan went missing.

[Det. Witt] It doesn't say what was scrapped.

Right away we were concerned that the red truck

may have already been destroyed.

[Det. Jacobs] While browsing around the basement,

I had noticed a carwash debit card

and it was sitting on top of the fridge

in the basement suite.

I took that carwash debit card

and I drove to the local carwash there.

[indistinct chatter on radio]

[Det. Jacobs] I noticed multitude of cameras,

which was phenomenal for our perspective.

Calgary PD.

We're looking to trace the transactions on this card.

-Can you pull those up for us? -[man] Sure.

[Det. Witt] Thanks.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Detectives learned

it was last used on February 7th,

the day after Ryan Lane disappeared.

As soon as they told me that it was used on that date,

I was very excited about that.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] I did see a red truck pull in,

an older GMC truck.

[tense music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] The lone occupant

got out of the driver side.

[tense music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] He started to meticulously

wash that truck.

He spent a great deal of time

spraying the passenger side of the truck down,

around the box, the outside,

the under panel of the passenger side,

the door, the mirror, the window.

And then, he jumped up into his truck

and started spraying out

the back portion of the truck.

It seems pretty extensive.

[tense music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] And then, it really got my attention

when he opened the driver's door

and the passenger door,

and got into the truck with the power wash

and started spraying down the interior of the truck.

[dramatic music playing]

He takes a lot of time to power wash

the inside of the truck,

which is not something

I had ever seen as an investigator.

[narrator] Detectives can't ID the truck driver,

so they request a view footage

from when the card was charged four days earlier.

[dramatic music playing]

An individual came in

and, uh, put money on that card.

Comparing the video from the 3rd to the 7th,

again, with similar stature,

walking with a limp

and the height and weight of that individual,

there was no doubt in my mind that that was Will Rempel.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Detectives then head to the salvage yard

to investigate Will's receipt.

[Det. Witt] Hi. Detective Witt, Calgary PD.

We're investigating a disappearance

involving a red pickup truck.

We believe may have been sold to you by this man.

Does he look familiar?

[narrator] The salvage yard worker remembers Will Rempel

selling his vehicle

as he insisted it'd be scrapped.

[Det. Witt] They thought it was a bit strange

because it was in such good condition.

I was very concerned

about what kind of shape it would be in.

When they advised me that the truck was intact,

I was enormously relieved

because it could potentially help

explain to us what had happened to Ryan.

[narrator] The vehicle is seized and sent for analysis.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Witt] So, if Will Rempel kidnapped Ryan,

what was his motivation?

[narrator] Will's only connection to Ryan

is his brother, Tim.

They looked into Tim's bank records for any clues.

There's gas station transaction here

at 8:15 PM on February the 6th.

That's the night Ryan vanished

[narrator] Footage from the Co-Op gas station

is transferred over to the department.

Detectives wanna find out

if Tim is the same driver seen at the Esso gas station,

just four hours later.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] I've seen a red Jeep pull in,

get gas.

There were two people in that vehicle,

and the passenger, I could not tell the identity

due to the footage being the evening and not the best.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Jacobs] At one point,

the driver did get out of the vehicle,

then this individual went inside the store.

And this particular driver had a ball cap on,

a gray sweatshirt that said skin on the front.

At the Esso gas station,

the individual driving the Jeep had a two-tone

light colored ball cap on.

And in this particular video,

this individual also had

a similar ball cap on as well.

I was able to definitively

ID this person as Tim Rempel.

[narrator] The footage confirms,

Tim is the driver of the red Jeep,

seen with his brother, Will,



Will's truck is searched.

[Det. Witt] We obtained blood from the top of the doorframe

of the passenger door.

Swabs were sent away for analysis to our crime lab

and they confirmed that that blood was Ryan's.

[narrator] Police suspect that Ryan is likely dead,

but they still don't have enough evidence

for an arrest.

[Det. Witt] Just because now we have Ryan's blood

inside of the truck,

what that speaks to is foul play

but it certainly isn't enough to prove m*rder.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] A month later, in May...

Detective Witt, speaking.

[narrator] Detective Witt learns

that Tim and his wife Sheena want to talk.

They meet Tim at a local park.

The conversation is recorded covertly.

[man speaking]

[Tim speaking]

[Det. Witt] Tim told us that he was the one

who called Ryan from the payphone.

[Tim speaking]

He said that he showed Ryan some pictures of Jordan

and was having a conversation about custody issues.

[Tim speaking]

Tim tells us that he punched Ryan in the face,

which caused him to bleed a lot

and caused him to drop to the ground.

[Tim speaking]

[narrator] Tim says he left,

leaving his brother Will with Ryan.

[Det. Witt speaking]

[Tim speaking]

[man speaking]

[Tim speaking]

[Det. Witt] So, basically Tim

wouldn't come right out and say it

but in a roundabout way, he basically said that

potentially his brother Will had k*lled Ryan.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] They then speak to Sheena.

[Sheena speaking]

[man speaking]

[Sheena speaking]

[man speaking]

[Sheena speaking]

[Det. Witt] We didn't have a body at this time.

We needed evidence to further the investigation

that foul play had in fact occurred.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] In the search for Ryan's body,

detectives turned to Tim and Will Rempel's

cell phone records.

They reveal that on the night Ryan disappeared,

both phones pinged off the same tower

in the remote area of Beiseker.

[helicopter blades whirring]

[Det. Witt] We identified this 11,000 acre area.

We had our Hawks helicopter in the air,

helping to search and get a feel for the landscape.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] For weeks, the police team

searched the area.

And on June 21st,

they come across several large gravel pits.

[Det. Witt] Our cadaver dog came upon a burn barrel

that was tucked in next to a berm,

and the cadaver dog hit on that area

indicating potentially human remains.

[helicopter blades whirring]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Under the gravel is a large charred barrel.

[Det. Witt] There was significant amount of ashes

inside the burn barrel

with what looked like bone on the top of the burn barrel.

Our pathologist was able to confirm

that indeed, these are human remains.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Witt] At the very bottom of the barrel,

a class ring with Ryan's name on it was located

and confirmed it belonged to Ryan Lane.

[dramatic music playing]

[cellphone ringing]

Hi.

Speaking.

And I got the news that they found his remains.

I honestly dropped my coffee cup.

I just said, are you sure?

And they said positive, and I bursted out crying.

They said they even had his ring in the barrel.

And then it made even worse

because you knew that there was no way of seeing him

to give him a hug.

There was no goodbye proper.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] With Sheena and Tim

blaming his brother Will,

police need to determine

if they are telling the truth.

They examined the couple's cell phone records.

There were over a thousand text messages we examined.

[narrator] One conversation between Tim and Sheena,

three months before Ryan's disappearance

stands out.

[dramatic music playing]

[Det. Witt] And so the context of what

we believe they're discussing is...

you only have to say yes once to make Ryan go away.

[narrator] Further plans are made

a day before Ryan's abduction.

[Det. Witt] It started to paint a picture

between Sheena and Tim,

primarily of them devising this cold-hearted plan

to make Ryan disappear.

[narrator] Twenty-four hours later,

Tim sent Sheena another text.

[Det. Witt] And then later that night on February 6th

is when Ryan gets the mysterious call

and he gets kidnapped.

That is the primary evidence we had on Sheena.

Our theory was that she was basically

the puppet master for all of this

and that the m*rder would not have occurred

had it not been for Sheena orchestrating it.

In consultation with our Crown prosecutor,

they felt we had passed that threshold

of reasonable doubt.

We were given approval to arrest

Sheena, Tim, and Will

for the kidnapping and m*rder of Ryan.

[dramatic music playing]

She never said the word m*rder,

um, but it was inferred.

[narrator] Four years after Ryan's demise,

in March, 2016, the trial begins.

So, the theory that the Crown prosecutors

put to the jury and the judge was

that the three of them had planned

how they were gonna kidnap Ryan

prior to February 6th.

And then on February 6th,

Sheena gives the okay via text message to Tim.

[narrator] Later that afternoon,

Ryan meets up with his daughter, Jordan,

for the first time in two years.

[Det. Witt] That night,

Tim and Will lure Ryan out of his house.

Hello?

Hey, is this Ryan?

Who is this?

And Will kidnaps him.

[narrator] Will then drives Ryan

to a remote area in Beiseker...

where he meets his brother, Tim.

[Tim] This ends now, okay?

Don't talk to her anymore.

You don't see her anymore, all right?

Get out of here.

[Det. Witt] And subsequently Will and Tim k*lled him.

And then, Will drove Ryan's body

out to the burn barrel

and disposed of his remains on that gravel pit.

[narrator] Using the same woods seen on video

in the bed of his truck.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] The following day, Will cleans the truck.

The CCTV is shown to the jury

along with the DNA evidence.

Our role is to find the truth and present the truth.

And in this case, I think that's exactly what happened.

[narrator] On April 20th, 2016,

the trio are found guilty of first degree m*rder

and are sentenced to life in prison.

[Det. Witt] Sheena was the mastermind

behind Ryan's kidnapping and m*rder.

In early October of 2011,

Sheena filed for full custody of Jordan.

Ryan wouldn't consent.

He wanted to be in Jordan's life.

None of this would have happened if it wasn't for her

wanting him to be out of their lives

so that he couldn't interfere

with this new family that she wanted to start with Tim,

their new baby that was on the way, and Jordan.

It's just so cold-hearted

that this was the choice that Sheena made

to deal with her custody issues,

was to k*ll the father of her child who now,

for all intents of purposes, she has neither parents.

It's just a very, very sad case

and it was so all unnecessary.

[narrator] All that's left for Jordan

are the precious memories and photos

of time spent with her loving dad.

[Carla] I just want Ryan to be remembered

for the fun-loving, charismatic person

that he was, happy go lucky,

and a father who loved his daughter.

He was the guy who always made sure

to tell you that he loves you,

and he made you feel like he truly did.

[Carla] I just wanna say thank you, Ryan,

for the years of friendship

that you did give to me and my buddies,

and we want you to know

that they may have taken you in time,

but you're still with us and you always will be

because a true friend never leaves.

[dramatic music playing]