The Day After | Chapter 2

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This podcast is intended for mature audiences listener discretion is advised actually in Myrtle Beach South Carolina when everything happened and that was like one of the first years where we didn't take like one big van or something because my aunt had She had company bands that we used to take. The day after Skylar went missing, her friend Shania Amons was on the way back from Myrtle Beach with her grandma and cousins when she got a text from Sheila.

And the text said, hey, have you heard from Skylar? And I said, no, why can you not get a hold of her? Because, you know, like when friends can't get a hold of friends that they're used to talking to every day, you know, you act like it's a huge deal sometimes. And she said, no, she's missing. And I said, what do you mean she's missing? Like, you just haven't talked to her? And she was like, no, she's missing. Like, I can't find her.

Her parents can't find her. The cops can't find her. This is actually, like, she's really missing. And I was in shock. I mean, Shania had just talked to Skylar. I think technically the last time. I talked to her was July 5th. I think she just kind of felt left out. And I was like, yeah, well, as soon as I get back, we'll do something, you know, I'll be back. But first it was like, okay, like I'm worried, but...

I have a real good feeling she's coming back, you know? Like, you really just, in those beginning stages, you don't think the worst. But in the Star City neighborhood of Morgantown, Mary and Dave were thinking the worst. They were sure Skylar had been kidnapped or was the victim of something even more nefarious. Mary was ready to drag the Monongahela River for her daughter's body. Search along the rail trails.

the old train tracks that had been converted into shaded running paths. The one thing they knew for certain, Skyler didn't run away. From Waveland, I'm Justine Harmon. And I'm Holly Millay. This is 3, Episode 2, The Day After. Everything that a girl would take, it was there. Her toothbrush, her deodorant, she hadn't taken anything. That's Mary when I first talked to her and Dave back in 2014.

Her hair straightener, that she hated her curly hair. She wouldn't leave home without that. It was there. Goody was there. What was Goody? A little piece of, like a security blanket. Oh, yeah. Taking a liking to one of my nightgowns one time, and that was her goodie. She wouldn't give it up. If she had cramps or something from that time of the month or something, she'd grab a goodie and go to her room. She took her cell phone, but not her charger.

No teenager in the world will run away without your cell phone charger. It ain't going to happen. I mean, that's priority, you know? And her hairbrush and all, she took nothing. And, but...

Of course, Star City Police said, run away, run away, run away. Aunt Carol remembers just how bleak that period was. We were sitting out on her little deck and, you know, she was just all upset and crying. And the dog, you know, Leeloo, she was just all sad. Mary said, and you know, I had this pit in my stomach that we weren't going to find her. And then she finally said, I have something to say and don't get mad at me.

And I'm like, what? Mary was fast losing faith, thinking, feeling that Skylar was dead. Then we both start crying because I'm like, I have the same feeling, you know. It was just like Mary was just numb. I mean, she just was numb with everything. Dave was a lot stronger than Mary. He could hold up a lot better than her.

All of a sudden, the phone rang. A familiar voice, Skylar's best friend. Sheila had wanted to know if we'd heard anything from her. And she had to tell me the truth. That's what it was. And that's when she was telling me that they had snuck out the night before, but they had dropped her off, I don't know, before midnight. Then she said, well, do you want us to come over?

And I said, well, sure. Sheila arrived with her mom, Tara, and joined Mary going door to door with Skylar's picture, asking if anyone had seen or heard anything. Dave stayed behind to wait for Star City police officers to arrive. When an officer showed up, he and Dave joined the search. Having no luck canvassing the block,

Mary remembered that the apartment complex had surveillance cameras. At 7.10 p.m., in a room the size of a closet, the building's landlord, the police officer, Mary, Dave, Sheila, and Tara all watch Skylar climb from her window and get into a waiting car no one could quite make out.

In the days and weeks that followed, it seemed like Sheila was always around, eager to comfort and be comforted. At one point, she came over here by herself, and she never came over here by herself after Skyler went missing. Never. One time she did. She came up to Mary and she goes, Mary, would it be okay if I went to Scholar's room and had some alone time in there? Mary said, well, sure. Looked at me and I said, sure.

She was in there for about 20 minutes, and Mary heard sobbing come from the room crying. Well, didn't we kind of wonder? We hope she's not taking anything. It's because the police aren't done yet. That's why I went to check for her. She found Sheila laying on Skyler's bed, crying or sobbing. And Mary laid down next to her and rubbed her arm and comforted her. And she's breaking all my demons.

I'm hurting so bad. I hurt so bad. I'm going to give time to stay strong. The truth will come out in the end. Hang in there, sweetie. We'll get her back. In the first days, then weeks after Skylar disappeared, Sheila gave multiple written statements on her memories from that night. On July 8th, she filled nine lines on a small yellow legal pad.

with her pristine handwriting. On Thursday night, me and Rachel Shove picked Skylar up after we snuck out. We drove around Star City for 30 mins at most. Then we had to go home, so Skylar insisted we drop her off at the end of Crawford. And we never talked after that. Sheila Eddy. On August 24th, she provided more details. I went and got Rachel from her house, and then we went and got Skylar. I was wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. We pulled next to the apartments.

Next to Skyler's. After Skyler snuck out of her house, we drove around the side streets of Star City for, at the most, 30 mins. She was insisting that I drop her off at the end of her street, Crawford. That was weird, so I asked her why, and she was acting really weird, so I did. Drop her off, and then after I left, I dropped Rachel off at her house. Then I went home.

Skylar was wearing yellow shorts and a greenish multicolored shirt with her hair up. Rachel was wearing a sweatshirt and jean shorts. Skylar's mood was pretty good and happy until towards the end when I dropped her off.

While Sheila kept close to the action, Rachel spent Friday, July 6th, the day after Skylar went missing, on a ski boat with a group that included her mother, Patricia, and close family friend, Kelly Kearns. In a photo from that outing... Kelly and Rachel are smiling. Kelly is trim and in her early 50s, wearing a coral red bathing suit and color-coordinated visor. Rachel is in a blue leopard print bikini, her unmistakable red hair in a low ponytail.

There was a huge storm in the southern part of the state and everything was knocked out. And she never went to that first week of camp and ended up being in Morgantown. Rachel had been in town that day after all. A pleasant surprise for Kelly. Kelly had known the girl from birth, even holding the redheaded baby before her own mother, who was recovering from a C-section. Right after she was born.

I was in the hospital, and I got to hold her. And she looked like she had been in the fight for her life. Had a little black eye, pointed. head where she was stuck in the birth canal. I mean, she fought for her little life and there I was because I never had kids. That day on the boat, Patricia noticed a cut on the lower part of Rachel's right leg. There's mom bitching about this cut. It's going to get infected and blah, blah, blah. And I wasn't really...

you know, that bothered by it. You know, Patricia was always stressing about something. To me, it just looked like a scratch on her leg, on her calf or something. I mean, it wasn't any major, like, oh my God, you should have had stitches. Patricia's friend and next-door neighbor at the time, Kim Keener, remembers the wound a little differently having examined it up close. Kind of in the fleshy part, almost the muscle part of the leg, but yeah, down toward the ankle.

Not real long, but very deep. I've got my fingers open here. Probably three inches. That might be two, three inches. But very deep. My exact words were, my God, that's deep. And she said, yeah, I think she got it on the prop or something on the boat. I mean, a prop is sharp when it's moving, but it's not that sharp to cut flesh like that deep. Regardless, Rachel spent the entire time on the boat that day buried in her phone.

A normal teenager on the phone, just texting. And we, Patricia and I don't stop talking. And throughout the day, sometimes. I'd be like, oh, is there any news of your friend? And Patricia would say, you know, she's talking to Sheila because Sheila's better friends with Skylar than Rachel. After docking, Kelly had a sense of unease. She asked the one question that would eventually consume Morgantown. I said to Patricia, she was helping me cover the boat.

And I said, do you think they did something to her? And Patricia goes, no, they're best friends. If you could stop a home break-in before it starts, why wouldn't you? Traditional home security systems only respond after a break-in. SimpliSafe is different. With their Active Guard outdoor protection, you can prevent crimes before they happen.

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The Star City Police Department deletes nearly all 911 recordings after two years. But a clipped version of Dave Niece's 911 call that day lives on the Internet. I have a 16-year-old daughter. She has not been home, hasn't been. Rookie officer Jessica Colbank was on vacation when Dave's call came in, but when she returned about two days later, she picked up the case. When we meet Colbank at Star City Police Headquarters, she's wearing a bulletproof vest and light makeup.

Her eyes are dark, as is her hair, which is pulled back in a tight bun. A serious person who will not suffer fools. Colbank knows the who's who and what's what around the area, where on any day, you might have to keep the peace or kick some ass. Adept at both, she is now the first female chief of police in Star City. Back in 2012, Colbink had a feeling that Skyler hadn't run away, an opinion her precinct colleagues didn't share.

Dave and Mary said Sheila and Rachel will know if she ran away or where she's at. They should know because they're her best friends. And then I went to talk to Sheila. I had to travel too. her parents' house and they were just hanging out in the garage with the garage open. She was sitting in a reclining chair and there was alcohol around and she was just having a good time. Nonchalant.

No emotion, no fear, no sadness. She was having a good time. If it were my best friend, I would not be consolable. You know, missing for at least four days. You don't know where they're at. Sitting there laughing and joking with family is not your typical response, teenager or not. Right off the bat, I said, this is not right. That is not normal. Next, Colbank turned her attention to Rachel, who...

the day after boating, had finally left for church camp. She interviewed the redhead over the phone. It was awkward because I'm a person that likes to see people's body language, their reactions, their demeanor, their behavior. It's easier to see a lie. when they're standing in front of you for most people. So over the phone, it was hard to judge. She was very, not standoffish, but she didn't really want to answer questions. It was more, I don't know, talk to Sheila.

You know, I don't know anything was her main stance. Like Sheila, Rachel was resolute. Skylar snuck out to meet them around 11 p.m. They cruised, smoked a little weed, and then dropped her off about an hour later. Sheila's story and Rachel's story were the exact same story. No one has the exact same story. So this was a rehearsed, this was a play for them. This was an act. So they had their...

Script written way before they'd rehearsed their lines. And that's what they did. Skyler's missing person posters were up all over town. 5-4 or 5-5. weighing approximately 135 to 145 pounds, wearing yellow shorts and a multicolored shirt, last seen getting into an unknown car at 1231 a.m. Because Skyler willingly got into a waiting car, she didn't qualify for an Amber Alert, which in 2012 were only issued for suspected kidnap victims. I saw Skyler's picture up at the gas stations.

She was starting to get brought up. And it's just one of those things like, oh man, that sucks. You know, we're all missing. That's Chris Berry, a young hotshot state trooper assigned to investigate double bank robberies in Blacksville, along with Morgan Spurlock, a highfalutin FBI agent brought in from Chicago. Morgan Spurlock, FBI, he was dressed nice, had the suit, the tie, he had pink socks. I'm like, you ain't gonna make it. You're not gonna make it. I said,

Quit Jinkooing your hair and putting moose in it and all that stuff. I said, go relax. Throw a hat on. Throw some ragged-ass clothes that you've painted or worked on a house with on. Take your badge. Hide it. take a gun, hide it. I said, but be ready to rock and roll. Morgan Sparlock looked at me and goes, he grew up in Chicago. He was like, this whole backwoods country life is definitely different.

At one point, Barry and Spurlock stumbled on what seemed to be a connection between Schuyler's disappearance and the Blacksville bank robberies. A picture of Schuyler mugging with one of the young suspects. Just some local handsome hoodlum all the girls knew. There were a ton of rumors that she was pregnant and she didn't want to tell her family, so she ran away with the baby's father. She had a boyfriend that they wouldn't like. She had OD'd at a party. She had helped.

robbed the bank, so they killed her because she knew too much. You know, it was a full gamut of anything and everything was said. All of which kept driving Coalbank back to the last two people she knew had seen Skylar alive. She pressed Sheila. Basically, you just ask, you know, what were you last doing? When did you last see her? Where did you go?

trying to get a timeline because she said she was with her, but way before she disappeared. And then whenever I would get too close to something that she didn't quite have the right answer for yet. she would start crying. So that caught me because the waterworks would come when she wanted them to, not when they were appropriate. After reviewing Skylar's phone records,

Colbank asked Sheila why she hadn't called her best friend when she'd gone missing. She never called her one time? Not after. I think there may have been one while she was with Dave and Mary. Say, hey, where are you? but then nothing. And she said, well, I've tried to reach out on social media, which she did right after I confronted her about it. She posted on social media that same day.

One month after Skylar had vanished, Sheila logged onto Facebook and posted a picture of herself hugging Skylar. She added a broken heart emoticon and wrote, I want my best friend back. And on August 10th, she wrote, All I want is for my best friend to come home. I wish I knew something to give the police, but I don't know anything. I'd do anything to have her home right now, and I wish I knew something like everybody thinks I do. Come home, Skylar. It's been five weeks too long.

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2012. The halls of University High School fill with the sounds of returning students eager to reconnect, carrying backpacks and fresh notebooks, searching the rows of red lockers to find their own. Most of the students had gone their own way over the summer. picking up a part-time job, or going on a quick vacation at a nearby lake. But now that everyone is together, back at school, there's an underlying anxiety. Everyone is talking about Skylar Neese.

On August 22nd, the Dominion Post ran the headline, Roll Call for Nice Goes Unanswered. The story reads, UHS Principal Sherry Burgess said that they'd hoped Schuyler would have turned up by now. They had her schedule, filled with the tough classes she requested, ready to go. A couple teachers called her name while taking attendance on the first day, but Skylar wasn't there.

That's Daniel Hovader, back when I spoke with him in 2014. He was Skyler and Rachel's close friend. He and Rachel were fellow theater rats performing together in school plays and musicals. Daniel heard it all.

The girl's former high school counselor, current County Commission President Tom Bloom, was bombarded with speculation. The first rumor was they went to a party, she got wasted, and... disappeared or she left with some people then it started to say what really happened at that party you know and did they do something or did she overdose i was hoping that rumor was the one that was

the thing where they went to a party and things got out of hand and something happened and they're too scared to talk. That was the initial thought. for us of okay maybe this rumor is the one that's leaning towards the truth just because of the the circle of friends that they had at the time there was a predominant drug use through some of them. So it's possible. Anything's possible.

Adding to the endless theories Coalbank and company had to comb through were the countless amateur internet detectives on forums like Topics and Websleuths.com. There was at BigFlaw. I hope the police interviewed local sex offenders. I only found two from Star City on the West Virginia police website. Recently, there was an unconfirmed but possible sighting of Skylar in Carolina Beach. And at Sparky. I tend to believe Skylar is alive and in hiding from her parents.

On August 22nd, a week into junior year and nearly six weeks after Skylar vanished, Sheila took to Facebook. I seriously can't deal with school without you. I miss you too much. To which Dave replied. She will be home soon, honey. Love you. Love you too. At school, the police, the state troopers, and the FBI

all took turns showing up to interview students, including Rachel and Sheila. Despite Colbank's suspicions, they never wavered from the story they spelled out in their statements. Me and Chris just... We had many, many discussions about it. And we just kept saying, these girls know we just have to keep after them. And that's the more pressure we put on them.

the matter the parents and the community got for us picking on these girls, like serving the search warrant while they were at school for their phones. Even the principal or vice principal at the time said, you know, you guys are really going after these. These girls, you know, they don't do anything wrong. You know, they're just pretty girls that wear short shorts every once in a while and that's all they get in trouble for. Mary and Dave began to actually worry about Sheila and Rachel.

With their best friend missing, weren't they suffering too? Add to that the pressures of school and rumors flying. It was all too much. Mary said, call off work tomorrow. We're going to talk to the police. I said, yeah, I want to talk to them too. I want to tell them, leave them girls alone.

And she said, that's what I want to talk to them about. They're hounding those girls day and night. Just leave them alone. They don't know anything. I'm sure of it. I said, I'm sure of it too, honey. Yeah, Dave was very mad. How dare I? Pick on her friends. They're grieving and everything like that. I had that from the community, not just Dave. People called and said, you need to leave these girls alone. Colbank couldn't.

especially since Sheila had begun turning up at the station. She would come in the office a couple times and she would dress very provocative for her age. And I always thought that was... You're coming to a police department to find out your best friend. You don't need a face full of makeup, short shorts, crop top. I don't know if she was hoping that would distract the investigation.

Quite honestly, for some, it might for guys, but lucky for me, I'm not. And it just, it was very awkward, but she was never, the entire time, it was just crocodile tears. They were so fake. That you could see through it, and you just didn't understand why she felt the need to do it, other than she didn't want to get in trouble for something. But she came in all bouncy and bubbly, and her hair, I was like...

I did. I looked at Ron. I said, you gotta fucking kid me. I said, there ain't no way. And he looked at me and he's like, he's right. And I'm like, this is strange. And that was... Right there would have been our first red flag, but it was kind of one of those red flags we looked over. Right there was our first red flag. And I'll never forget, I was sitting back and went, God damn, she lost her best friend? Like that, no.

I'm kind of elbowing Ronnie. I'm like, we got to back out and refigure this one. Like there's something, I don't know, like I was getting that bad vibe already. Despite Sheila's best efforts to always keep her cool, police were about to make a major discovery. in the apartment complex surveillance video was a crucial clue. And I said, all right, I'm going to be over. I'm going to change clothes, grab something, I'll be over. And actually I grabbed them.

six pack of beer and we went upstairs to the office and they had a big projector screen where they could play the videos and uh it was nine o'clock at night and i said we're going to start this video from beginning to end it was four hours long That is the video that we had. It's such a grainy video. And we just sat there and watched. And watched all the way up until we see Skylar. And I talked to Jessica, I said, what did you see? She said, Skylar getting out. I said, yeah.

see anything else she goes no it's exactly i said she was dropped off she was picked up and dropped off why don't we see her coming back to that damn window I was driving down that night on the interstate, and I remember I was passing right over the interstate 68 bridge across the river. It just dawned on me. I called Ronnie, I called Morgan, and I was like, I just watched the video.

The only time she left is when she got in that car. No other time she left that house. I said, I was like, holy shit, Sheila's car. Next time on 3. She was awakened at 5 o'clock in the morning to screaming, a screaming fight between the three girls. I swear we probably almost died 100 times that night. Did you know something? more racial. Three is an original production of Wavelamp. The series is created and written by Holly Millay and me, Justine Harmon. The executive producer is Jason Hoke.

who produced and edited the series. Associate producers are Lydia Horn and Leo Culp. Fact-checking by Lydia Horn. Sound engineering by Shane Freeman. Music by Robert Ellis. Studio recording at CDM Studios in New York and Wildwoods Picture and Sound in Los Angeles. Special thanks to Dave and Mary Neese in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia.

If you love this series, leave a review and please tell your friends. Follow Waveland on Instagram at Waveland Media for more on this series and upcoming new shows. Thanks for listening. I've never felt like this before. It's like you just get me. I feel like my true self with you. Does that sound crazy? And it doesn't hurt that you're gorgeous. Okay, that's it. I'm taking you home with me.

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