04x14 - Rhonda's Gone

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

Narrator: a 49-year-old wife and mother vanishes...

She's just gone.

Narrator: ...leaving her family reeling.

Hannah: it just hit me like a ton of bricks.

I can't believe this actually happening.

Narrator: a stone-cold trail.

Man: all of my feelings were turned off.

I was focusing on finding her.

Narrator: no motive.

Everyone was a suspect.

Narrator: but there is one witness.

I'm watching the k*ller...

Before he k*lled.

Narrator: lives change forever.

Kitts: just find her, get her, get her back.

I want to know she's okay.

--Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: monday, december 1, 2014,

La follette, tennessee.

-Can you turn those on? -Ta-da!

Narrator: rhonda and charles daugherty

Are enjoying a festive afternoon.

Beautiful.

Isn't it a bit early to be decorating for christmas?

-It's december. -It's december 1st.

Exactly.

Mom and dad had the best relationship

That I've ever seen.

They had the kind of marriage you see in movies

That you don't actually think exist.

Narrator: together 34 years,

Charles works in construction.

Rhonda's a beautician and church volunteer.

You happy with that now?

They have three grown-up children.

The eldest, danelle,

Is expecting their first grandchild.

Rhonda couldn't wait. She was so happy.

She loved babies.

It's gonna be such a great christmas.

Narrator: at 6:00 the next morning,

Rhonda packs charles his lunch as usual.

Morning, honey.

Adam: when dad was at work, she'd go grocery shopping,

Or we'd even go to knoxville, which was an hour away.

Rhonda: you gonna be back late tonight?



I might stop...

Narrator: rhonda's got a busy day ahead, running errands.

Hardly ever a day went by that we didn't talk.

-I'll see you later then. -Okay.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: at 6:30 that evening...

Man: police emergency, can I help you?

Narrator: ...police receive a 911 emergency call

From the daugherty's residence.

I was told that there was a missing person,

And I needed to be at the scene.

Narrator: the person who made the call...

Sir, take your time.

...was charles daugherty.

Tell me how you found out your wife was missing.

I came home from work around 6:00 p.m.,

Just like usual.

Rhonda? Honey?

Long: he said he came home,

And she's just gone.

Narrator: he claims an untouched cup of coffee

Was still on the counter along with rhonda's cellphone.

Rhonda, you home?

And you didn't hear from her during the day?

No.

For a 40-, 50-year old lady

To all of a sudden go missing, that's unusual.

Narrator: detective long calls rhonda's mom, nancy,

But she hasn't seen or heard from her daughter either.

I said, "that's not like her.

She's always called or been out by this time."

Narrator: detective long orders an intensive search

Of the house and surrounding area for any clues

As to rhonda's whereabouts.

Long: there was no signs of forced entry.

There was no signs of a struggle within the house.

She just literally vanished.

I thought, "this is completely out of the ordinary.

Something is definitely wrong."

Narrator: desperate to pick up rhonda's trail,

Detective long calls in a tracking dog.

Long: if she'd wandered off and hurt herself,

We would probably find her using a canine rather quickly.

Narrator: the dog immediately picks up rhonda's scent,

But the trail stops at the sidewalk.

Police believe rhonda got into a vehicle.

By the end of day one,

We were fairly certain that she had been abducted.

♪♪

Narrator: the next morning,

Search parties combed the woodlands

Near the daughertys' home.

Rhonda!

Hannah: the police were out there looking for mom,

And it just hit me like a ton of bricks,

Like, "I can't believe this is actually happening."

-Rhonda! -Rhonda!

Narrator: but after hours of searching,

There's no sign of rhonda.

Adam: I didn't feel afraid at the time.

All of my feelings were turned off,

And I was focusing on finding her

Or doing whatever I could to help my family

Get through the situation that we were in.

Narrator: three days after rhonda vanished,

Police call in the tennessee bureau of investigation.

Special agent brandon elkins catches the case.

Elkins: there's so many facets to look at when you get a case.

Maybe a domestic issue going on in that family

Or maybe an extramarital affair.

Long: in the majority of the cases,

Where there's kidnapping or homicide,

Typically there's a family member or close friend

That is the perpetrator.

Narrator: they summon rhonda's husband, charles,

To the bureau for a more in-depth interview.

Elkins: thank you for coming in to see us, mr. Daugherty.

We asked some very difficult questions.

How was your relationship with her?

Your marriage?

It's good.

She seems happy.

He said they didn't have any financial problems,

And they didn't have any romantic entanglements

With other people.

Narrator: elkins has charles describe his exact

Movements on the day rhonda vanished.

Well, in the morning, I went to work like normal.

Rhonda made me lunch.

Charles said he left home around 6:00 a.m.

And drove to an area called clairfield, tennessee.

There's no cellphone reception out there,

So we didn't talk.

Narrator: charles says he was working in an area

With no cellphone coverage.

It's about an hour into the country.

Police need to follow up his alibi.

What time did the shift start?

Detectives question charles' co-workers.

If there's an alibi, we try to find someone

That has actually witnessed that.

That's the kind of cooperation that we look for.

-Anything? -No.

Narrator: charles' colleagues...

Back up his story.

Keep looking.

There was nothing to indicate that charles was involved

In rhonda's disappearance.

♪♪

I kept thinking, "she's going to walk back through the door,

And she's gonna have this crazy story."

We barely spent a night apart in our 30-year marriage.

And then she's gone, and I don't know where she's at.

Narrator: with charles in the clear,

Detectives turn their attention to rhonda's bank card.

Check this out.

Long: we wanted to backtrack to see the last time

That we could independently corroborate when she was alive.

Food city, last monday.

Narrator: rhonda's last transaction

Was at a neighborhood grocery store

The day before she vanished.

I'll go.

Elkins heads straight to the store.

I'm gonna need to take a look

At all your interior and exterior cameras.

The store has ample surveillance coverage.

Elkins: surveillance footage is a silent witness.

It's something that we can always trust,

That we can always look at and we can always determine

Whether the information we've been developing in a case

Is true or not.

Can you pull up december 1st around



Yeah, for sure.

Narrator: but with their first glimpse

Of the missing mother, the mystery only deepens.

Narrator: in la follette, tennessee,

Grandmother-to-be rhonda daugherty

Has vanished from her home.

Special agent brandon elkins has traced her last

Bank-card transaction to a grocery store 4 miles away.

Looking at video is a must,

Every opportunity we have in a case.

Narrator: he loads surveillance footage

From just before her transaction on december 1st

And hits play.

♪♪

Elkins immediately spots a brown-haired woman

Near the center isle.

She looks up and heads for the checkout.

It's rhonda.

Elkins: first we want to determine,

Was there anything out of the ordinary

That could give us a clue into why she disappeared?

♪♪

We're looking for people

That may be following her through the store.

Was anybody watching her?

Maybe she was meeting someone.

Narrator: but there's nothing suspicious at all.

Elkins: we also wanted to know the condition

That rhonda was in prior to her going missing.

Narrator: so far, rhonda looks to be

Her normal joyful self,

Chatting with the staff as her order is rung up.

Elkins: she was happy.

She didn't appear to be afraid.

She looked like a normal person

Going through normal daily business.

She could be anybody's family member,

Just shopping, just happy, just enjoying life.

Narrator: finally, rhonda pays...

And leaves.

♪♪

Can you pull up the exterior cameras?

Yeah.

Elkins spots rhonda's brown s.u.v. In the car lot.

♪♪

Near the top of frame, a person emerges from the store.

♪♪

She starts loading her groceries

Into the back of the vehicle.

Yeah, that's her.

♪♪

Elkins: we're looking to see,

Was there anybody in the parking lot

That's suspicious, was anybody watching her vehicle,

Did anybody follow her out of the store

Or follow her when she left?

Narrator: rhonda climbs into her car,

But doesn't leave straight away.

From behind, a man dressed in black approaches.

♪♪

But he walks straight past.

Play it on.

♪♪

♪♪

Rhonda drives out of the food city car lot...

Alone.

♪♪

Elkins: when we see the footage of rhonda leaving the store,

We were able to tell pretty clearly

That she wasn't in duress or wasn't being followed.

♪♪

Narrator: hard to believe, less than 24 hours later,

This housewife will disappear without a trace.

With rhonda still missing,

Her family take to the streets.

Adam: while they were searching for mom,

We're all trying to stay positive

That something will happen for the best.

Narrator: but it's getting harder to remain optimistic.

Your mind is just going a million different directions,

Trying to come up with something that makes some sense.

♪♪

Narrator: the following day,

Charles calls special agent elkins.

Mr. Daugherty.

He's been racking his brain and has a potential lead.

Rhonda received some strange text messages

From someone called charlie.

He said that they had some coats to donate to the church.

Narrator: charlie asked to meet rhonda

In the church parking lot.

You sure he said 2:30?

That's what he said.

We sat there waiting on that person

To show up with the coats, but no one was there.

-Oh, hey, charles. -Lonnie.

Hey, rhonda.

Hey, charles.

Hi, rhonda.

I got a text from some guy named charlie

Saying he wanted to donate some clothes.

We got a text, too. You seen him?

No, I haven't.

Charles: he said that he had the same text messages

To pick up coats.

Narrator: they waited for half an hour,

But the man with the coats never showed.

Charlie: when they didn't show up, I thought,

"Well, this is just some kind of prank,

So I didn't think any more of it."

Narrator: sensing there's more to this story,

Elkins heads to lonnie's house.

Good morning, is lonnie home?

No, he's in indianapolis.

At first, elkins fears lonnie

Might be missing, too, but his wife is sure he's safe.

Lonnie had told her about a new job

That he had acquired with a trucking company.

He had sent her pictures that showed the area

Around indianapolis.

Narrator: with that lead shut down,

Detectives review other violent crimes in the area.

Perhaps rhonda's abduction isn't an isolated occurrence.

One crime jumps out.

The house had been robbed

And the victims had been tied up at gunpoint.

Narrator: the robbery happened just a few miles

From rhonda's house.

Take your time.

Detectives speak to the victims,

Who say a large, bald man forced his way into their home,

Held them at gunpoint,

Robbed them,

Then drove away in a dark-gray s.u.v.

Elkins: the interesting thing the robber said was,

"I'm in trouble.

I got to get some money and get out of town."

We were instantly interested in that as being

A possible lead to rhonda's disappearance.

Narrator: tbi immediately turns to the public for help.

Elkins: provided the media with descriptive information

Of this man as well as the vehicle.

Reporter: investigators are looking for an armed robber.

If you happen to see him,

Call the campbell county sheriff's office.

Narrator: the following day,

The coverage produces a vital tip.

Elkins.

Elkins: we received a telephone call from a local hotel.

Clerk said that someone matching that description

Had been staying at their hotel.

Bye.

Narrator: the country inn and suites hotel

Is just 20 miles from rhonda's home.

Good morning.

I'm gonna need to take a look at your security footage.

Of course.

There were cameras on the inside and outside

Of the building.

Narrator: the suspect was spotted leaving the hotel

Around 7:40 a.m. On december 2nd.

Elkins cues up the footage from the parking-lot camera

And immediately spots a dark-gray s.u.v.

Matching the description of the one used in the robbery,

But the license plate is impossible to read.

Elkins could be about to get a first look

At his prime suspect.

Narrator: special agent brandon elkins is hunting

For a suspected kidnapper and armed robber

Who he thinks is responsible for the abduction

Of rhonda daugherty.

He's watching footage from 7:40 a.m. On december 2nd,

The day rhonda went missing.

He braces for a first look at his prime suspect.

♪♪

At 7:42 a.m.,

A large, bald man in a purple polo shirt emerges.

We observe a white male, approximately 5'9",



Narrator: he matches the description of the armed robber

Who police suspect abducted rhonda.

He reaches for something in the back of his car...

...a large, flat, packed cardboard box...

Which he assembles.

♪♪

♪♪

Then he opens a bag...

...and places its contents into the box.

Long: we saw him packing up these boxes

With clothing of some sort.

Narrator: charitable clothes donations were mentioned

In the text messages that both rhonda and lonnie vann received.

♪♪

Elkins: in those text messages,

A male who identified himself as charlie,

Wanted to provide some coats for a clothing drive.

Narrator: if the man in the purple shirt is charlie...

Come on, turn around.

...elkins needs a clear shot of his face to prove it.

But the man keeps his back to the camera,

Almost as if on purpose.

♪♪

Having the video that you need at the moment you need it

With the person that you need in it,

And not seeing his face, very frustrating.

Narrator: elkins switches to the interior camera...

...and waits.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

At 7:44 a.m.,

The purple-shirted man appears in the hallway.

He stops...

And enters a room.

Again, his face is completely obscured.

This time by an exit sign.

♪♪

Elkins asks the hotel for the guest's name.

Hey, there.

But the room was booked with an anonymous gift card,

So it will take some time to confirm.

Okay, great.

Meantime, he continues to watch...

To see if the suspect reappears.

♪♪

Exactly 14 minutes later,

The man reappears, looking very different.

Elkins: he's wearing camouflage,

What appeared to be black boots.

♪♪

Why was he suddenly in camouflage?

Where was he going?

Long: normally when you see someone go into a hotel room

And they're dressed one way, they come out dressed in camo,

You might think that they're going hunting or fishing.

♪♪

Narrator: elkins switches back to the exterior camera

Overlooking the parking lot and waits.

♪♪

At 7:58 a.m., The bald suspect,

Now in full camouflage, emerges.

He's carrying a small, black duffel bag...

...which he places inside the car,

But instead of stepping back, he reaches further in.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

He spends even more time inside the rear left of the car.

♪♪

♪♪

Elkins: he gets in his vehicle

And leaves the hotel.

Narrator: elkins thinks he has just watched the suspect

Prepare his car for the abduction of rhonda daugherty.

♪♪

Elkins still needs a clear shot to the suspect's face,

So he switches to the reception footage

From the previous day.

Elkins: we had a substantial amount of surveillance footage.

All that footage had to be gone through

Second by second, sitting in front of a screen.

Narrator: it's going to be a long process.

♪♪

Meantime, the family continue to hope

That rhonda will be found alive.

A volunteer at this church...

Kitts: we decided to have a candlelight vigil for rhonda.

I just felt [sighing]

Just find her, get her, get her back.

You know, I want to hear her voice.

I want to see her. I want to know she's okay.

It was hard for us, but I tried to stay hopeful,

Not just for me, but for my family, for my dad.

Charles: I still had hope.

I still had hope that we were gonna find her.

♪♪

Narrator: agent elkins is still searching

Hours of hotel footage from december 1st,

Hoping to i.d. The bald suspect.

We didn't want to leave any chance of a stone unturned

Or something that we didn't see on video.

♪♪

At 7:59 p.m., The last person

That elkins expects to see

Walks into the hotel.

What is he doing here?

Narrator: four days after rhonda daugherty disappeared,

Agent elkins has tracked a bald-headed suspect

To a nearby hotel.

He's watching footage from the night before rhonda vanished,

Hoping to i.d. The suspect as he checks in.

♪♪

But at 7:59 p.m., A familiar face appears.

♪♪

Elkins clicks on the camera overlooking the reception desk

To get a better view.

♪♪

It's lonnie vann,

Rhonda's fellow church volunteer,

Who also received a text message about clothing donations.

What is he doing here?

Vann just appears to be checking in the hotel.

Narrator: his wife claimed he was away in indianapolis.

Long: why is he checking into a hotel

When he should be hundreds of miles away?

We think, obviously, something's wrong.

Narrator: lonnie chats with the receptionist.

Then walks back outside.

♪♪

Elkins keeps watching to see if lonnie reappears.

♪♪

Sure enough, three minutes later, he's back,

Loaded with bags.

♪♪

Elkins tracks him through the hotel.

He brings up the corridor camera.

♪♪

Lonnie stops outside the same room as the bald suspect...

♪♪

♪♪

...and enters.

Elkins: the thing literally going through my mind

Was, "holy crap."

That changes everything.

Thank you.

Narrator: elkins heads to the room with the maid.

Do you remember anything odd about the room?

She says she found a large pile of hair

In the sink, as if someone had shaved their head.

Elkins: I was shook to the core.

Narrator: he watches the videos of the two men side by side.

Elkins: his gait was the same. His size was the same.

He entered the same hotel room.

♪♪

Narrator: elkins believes that lonnie,

A respected member of the community,

And the bald man suspected of kidnapping rhonda,

Are one and the same person.

Records from the hotel come back

And confirm lonnie booked the room

And with the evidence in the surveillance footage,

Elkins theorizes that lonnie's been using the excuse

Of clothing donations...

To try to get rhonda alone.

I got a text from some guy named charlie

Saying he wanted to donate some clothes.

We believe that charlie was a fake name

Being used as bait.

Narrator: to see if he can find further evidence,

Elkins searches the trash from the room

And discovers a shoe box containing a walmart receipt.

The box had previously contained a pair

Of military-style boots.

Narrator: which were purchased

The night before rhonda disappeared.

Next stop, walmart in the nearby town of clinton.

So, we have the receipt.

Elkins: the store is able to scan the code on the box

And from that, cross reference with surveillance video

That they had on file.

Let's take this a few minutes before 9:40.

Narrator: elkins queues up the camera overlooking

The entrance and hits play.

♪♪

♪♪

There he is.

There's no mistaking it's lonnie vann

With a shopping list.

♪♪

Elkins switches to the camera above the cash register

Just before the purchase was made

And waits for lonnie to appear.

♪♪

♪♪

Elkins: he purchases a black pair of military-style boots...

...two duffle bags...

♪♪

...a 50-count box of nitrile gloves,

A hair trimmer and a beard trimmer,

Two rolls of duct tape and three monster energy drinks.

♪♪

♪♪

It's truly scary and will send a chill down your spine

When you realize the things that he's buying

He will eventually use to abduct rhonda daugherty.

Narrator: lonnie vann is now suspect number one.

[ Sirens wailing ]

Tbi alert the police across the state.

Reporter #2: 44-year-old lonnie vann

Was added to the tbi's most wanted list.

Reporter #3: $5,000 reward is being offered...

Reporter #4: he is considered armed and dangerous tonight.

Narrator: investigators question everyone

In recent contact with their suspect, including charles.

Charles: when we first heard

That lonnie may have been involved,

We were all in disbelief.

He had taught my daughter in school.

He was my son's football coach.

Hannah: I thought, "he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

He's this nice, gentle person and if he did take her,

She's okay somewhere."

♪♪

Narrator: a visit to lonnie's brother mike

Yields an ominous new lead.

Lonnie's brother had a small boat in norris lake.

Narrator: mike visited the boat two days

After rhonda was abducted

And found it unlocked.

The only other person with a key was lonnie.

Elkins: there were muddy footprints throughout

And some items had been moved around.

Narrator: he also found fine, gray dust on the floor

And a discarded receipt from a lowe's store,

Date-stamped 12:09 p.m., December 2nd,

The day rhonda went missing.

Elkins dispatches a forensic team to the boat

And contacts lowe's for surveillance footage

From the time on the receipt.

If it's lonnie vann making the purchase,

It could bring them one step closer to rhonda.

Narrator: almost a week after rhonda daugherty was abducted,

Family friend lonnie vann is now the prime suspect.

Police have tracked him to a nearby lowe's store

And are about to see what he purchased,

Hoping it will lead them to rhonda.

They queue the footage to 12:09 p.m. On december 2nd,

The time of the purchase.

♪♪

Lonnie vann appears at the top of the screen,

Pushing a red shopping cart.

It doesn't look like the lonnie that most people

Would have been familiar with.

He's changed his appearance, changed his manner of dress,

Shaved head.

♪♪

You wouldn't necessarily associate that with the person

That was in the video the previous night.

♪♪

Narrator: detectives switch to the camera overlooking

The cash registers to try to see what's in his cart.

Whatever lonnie's buying could finally reveal

What happened to rhonda.

♪♪

In lonnie's shopping cart

Are two heavy cinder blocks.

♪♪

It was like watching a movie unfold.

Narrator: he pays and leaves the store,

Clutching the receipt that was found on the boat.

Forensics confirm the dust found on that boat

Is from the cinder blocks.

Elkins: it's at that point that we had to consider

That rhonda had been m*rder*d

And that he had used the cinder blocks

To weigh her down

And place her body into the lake.

♪♪

When they said the word "m*rder*d,"

All hope immediately was lost.

♪♪

To hear those words was just completely devastating.

I was numb. It's just like, like I was numb.

I didn't feel, I couldn't feel nothing.

Narrator: with plans under way to search the lake,

Detectives try to trap lonnie using an e-mail tracer.

That allowed us to determine his i.p. Address

At the time that he was opening the e-mails.

Narrator: lonnie takes the bait and activates the tracer.

It came back with a resort in myrtle beach,

South carolina.

♪♪

We contacted south carolina investigators,

And we provided them with the description of lonnie vann.

Officer: open up.

We had him.

We didn't have to worry about him doing anything else

To anybody else.

Narrator: in his vehicle,

Investigators make a sinister discovery,

Zip ties with traces of rhonda's dna.

Long: that was the piece of evidence that we needed

To charge lonnie vann.

Narrator: lonnie never explains his actions.

There's no proof, other than the footage showing him

With a box of clothing and his coincidental presence

At the church weeks before makes detectives think

That this was his first attempt to abduct rhonda,

Foiled when charles showed up, too.

-Hey, charles. -Lonnie.

Narrator: so on december 1st,

The evening before rhonda's disappearance,

Lonnie buys everything he'll need to commit his crime,

Then checks into a nearby hotel.

Elkins: he was sending his wife information through e-mail

And text message, attempting to provide himself an alibi.

Narrator: that night, lonnie changes his appearance.

Early the following morning, he leaves the hotel,

Prepping his car for the kidnap.

With charles at work...

Lonnie enters the house...

...and snatches rhonda from her kitchen.

♪♪

Elkins: based on all the evidence that we collected

During the investigation,

We believe that rhonda was k*lled by lonnie vann

And then placed in norris lake in la follette, tennessee.

♪♪

Narrator: on december 16, 2015,

Lonnie lee vann pleads guilty

To the robbery of the old couple as well as the kidnap

And m*rder of rhonda daugherty.

He's sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Despite extensive searches of norris lake,

Rhonda's body has never been recovered.

Charles: just an eerie feeling to know that she's there

And we can't get to her.

Adam: it's such a horrible thing that happened.

I'll never be the same person I was before.

Hannah: I still have some voicemails on my phone

That she had sent.

There are sometimes that I just listen to them

So that I don't forget what her voice was like.

♪♪

Charles: it makes you appreciate the moments you do have,

The little things in life.

Don't take them for granted.