October 22, 2025 • 35 mins
In the weeks following Bethany Markowski’s disappearance, new details began to surface - raising questions about what may have happened inside Larry Markowski’s van and what investigators really found.
As the story unfolds, one thing becomes clear: every answer only leads to more questions.
View relevant photos for this episode here:
https://missinginhushtown.com/blog/chapter-2
Learn More:
Visit BethanyMarkowski.com to learn more about Bethany’s case
Explore episode notes, photos, and related case information at MissingInHushTown.com.
Missing in Hush Town Season 2 is executive produced in partnership by Fire Eyes Media LLC’s Jules Thorp and Jen Rivera and MomCast Productions’ Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft. The script is written by Jules Thorp and edited by Heather Northcraft, project lead is Rachel Holloway, and master editing and audio production is done by Jen Rivera. Jules Thorp is your host.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-in-hush-town--6404892/support.
As the story unfolds, one thing becomes clear: every answer only leads to more questions.
View relevant photos for this episode here:
https://missinginhushtown.com/blog/chapter-2
Learn More:
Visit BethanyMarkowski.com to learn more about Bethany’s case
Explore episode notes, photos, and related case information at MissingInHushTown.com.
Missing in Hush Town Season 2 is executive produced in partnership by Fire Eyes Media LLC’s Jules Thorp and Jen Rivera and MomCast Productions’ Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft. The script is written by Jules Thorp and edited by Heather Northcraft, project lead is Rachel Holloway, and master editing and audio production is done by Jen Rivera. Jules Thorp is your host.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-in-hush-town--6404892/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the pictures.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Can you tell me what was seen in the van?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yeah, I tell you exactly what was saying in it.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Welcome back to Missing in Hushtown Season two, Bethany Markowski.
This is chapter two, The Suspicious Aftermath, and I'm your host,
Jules Hi. Everybody, and last episode, we left off with
Harold Roberts, Larry's former best friend, talking to producer Rachel
about what he alleges he was shown by the FBI
things that were in Larry's van. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh, puddle blood in the van, condoms and the TV
carre Yeah. And I asked the agent that told me this.
I said that right there is enough for y'all arrest
him all out there, and they said no, because he
told us that she was on her period. I said,
(01:30):
what what about that TV carry in that condom?
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Whose is that?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
He said, well, we don't know. And I told him,
I said, well, you can go and get one of
her brushes or something that she used to have at
his house and find DNA's.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
You know.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
And I don't.
Speaker 7 (01:47):
I don't know whether that was ever done or not.
But that's that's the disappointing stuff about this. I want
to tell you that he better be thankful. I'm not
an agent. I'd have done had him.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
There right there in inconsistency, she sat on a thorn,
or she was on her period. If she was on
her period, wouldn't Johnny be able to corroborate this? I
promptly texted her, Jules, Hi, hits me again, quick question.
Did Bethany begin menstuating by eleven Johnny? No, she definitely
(02:20):
did not, And there we have it from the mother.
I believe, Johnny. They lived with aunts, cousins, then in
an apartment, but still with the help from family. I
doubt Bethany would begin a period without her mother knowing,
or any other woman in the family knowing for that matter.
Plus an eleven year girl men's stuating would likely mean
the school would be informed and the school nurse would
(02:41):
be available for Bethany to utilize her private restrooms and supply.
So no, we don't believe Bethany started her period by
that Friday, March second, two thousand and one, that she
was with her father on her second unsupervised visit. So
that leaves us with what Larry allegedly told the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation when asking if there was any reason
they would find Bethany's blood in the van, he said, quote, yes,
(03:05):
Bethany sat on a thorn end quote or did he
say this? And it's important for us to make something
very clear. We don't know Harold. Aside from our interviews
with him and our interviews with others who have shared
their experiences with him, We've been guided not to trust
everything he says, and although that goes without saying, for
us producers, we wanted to extend that warning to you too.
(03:28):
But it doesn't just stop at Harold. To be fair,
everybody's worldview and experience is biased and may cautiously be trusted,
even ours, But we can choose to hear, listen, and
present pieces we think are important for continuing the dialogue
as we search for Bethany's whereabouts. We'll dive into the
warnings about Harold in a later episode, but as of now,
(03:51):
it's all alleged and according to his recollection, something pretty
unexpected has happened since we started writing the scripts for
this podcast, and it's this Larry Markowski's wife, missus Valerie Markowski,
has continued to establish a respectful texting relationship with me
and the last week I've been able to ask her
(04:11):
very direct questions about holes in this case. Throughout the podcast,
I'll be including part of our conversations. Mister Larry Markowski
did decline to interview in person, as we previously stated,
but he is answering my questions that I send a Valerie.
As we've stated all along, we want to offer everyone
an equal opportunity to share their truth. We believe it's
(04:32):
ethical to inform them what is going on in the episodes.
This isn't a gotcha podcast. It's a ask the tough
questions to all the players and then form theories after podcast.
The following is an excerpt from a conversation between Valerie
Markowski and myself through text. Now, this conversation occurred on
October sixteenth, twenty twenty five. I did not alter or
(04:53):
reword any parts of this excerpt. Jules, does Larry stand
by saying Bethany's sat on the thorn and that's why
there were some drops of blood on her pillow and blanket.
Valerie question is was it even confirmed to be Bethany's blood?
That's my question, Jules. We just don't know. They won't
confirm to us at all. But there was blood found, yes,
(05:15):
and the report is Larry said she sat on a
thorn when they asked if there's any reason they would
find her blood, Valerie, I mean it could be blood
from Larry Shaven. Even if there was blood found. I
only believe half of what the police say, and given
them one half is a lot. Jules, I guess my
question is if he said that or not to law enforcement. Now.
(05:38):
I didn't receive a reply to my follow up question
about it. When I spoke to Johnny about the blood,
I asked her where the confirmation about the blood spots
in the van, on the blanket and pillow came from,
and she told us it was from Special Agent Trout.
Valerie Trout was one of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations
assigned agents to Bethany's case at the time. We've not
(06:00):
been able to get in touch with Missus Trout, though
not for lack of trying. If you hear this, miss Trout,
we'd love to extend an invitation to interview with us.
We do have emails between Special Agent Trout and Johnny
that we will be referencing in future episodes, though, and
that brings us to the suspicious aftermath of March fourth,
two thousand and one, the immediate aftermath about four to
(06:22):
six weeks after. To be specific, it's apriland Tennessee two
thousand and one. Bethany leam Markowski has been missing for
more than four weeks. Severe weather begins to pick up
in the South. Warmth in this season, creating unstable atmosphere
makes perfect conditions for chances of tornadoes. About three hundred
(06:43):
miles southeast of Jackson, Tennessee, just above the Tennessee Georgia
border is a town called Cleveland Cleveland, Tennessee, and situated
in that town is a small diner, a few waitresses
working an overworked but very skilled small town cook in
the back in a hawk clutter kitchen, and sprinkled around
are both regulars and travelers alike taking a moment in
(07:04):
their busy days to sit down and enjoy home cooked
food and conversations. This particular day, a waitress notices a
middle aged Caucasian woman accompanied by a young girl. She
appeared to be about ten years old. The young girl
was twirling her hair, looking very nervous. The two sit
in the back of the diner in a booth When
the waitress approaches them to take their order, the woman
(07:26):
states that they're waiting for someone and they'll just have water.
It's then the waitress notices the woman's shoes are untied,
her hair appears to be unkept and unwashed, and she
looks to be hungover with dark eyes, with even darker
bags underneath her eyes. And next to the little girl
who looked nervous, it was hard for the waitress to
(07:47):
not notice that something seemed off. The woman didn't have
a bag, purse or luggage, no, Instead, she was carrying
a black trash bag. There was a payphone out front,
and the two would stand up from the booth, walked
to the payphone outside, make a call, and then come
back in. This went on for three days, Yes, three days.
(08:09):
The waitress followed her instinct and called the police, but
by the time the police arrived, the woman and the
young girl were gone. However, she was shown photos of
girls and picked Bethany out of the photos. Here's Johnny's recollection.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I didn't witness it, and I did not have it
in writing, but what I was told was when they
went to that cap paid to investigate it, they took
pictures of little girls. Bethanied me and one of them,
and the people, like the waitress said, oh, that's the
little girl. The guy and the cabs said, that's the
little girl.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
The police were able to track the women and the
girl through the cab company which arrived to pick them up.
And it's then that the cab driver also identified Bethany
and a group of photos of girls he was shown
and he confirmed he was taking them to the bus station.
One thing about what this man told enforcement has always
stood out to Johnny. It's one that she can't shake.
(09:04):
Could this truly have been Bethany? The gentleman said the
little girl in the cap was twirling her hair and
biting her nails. This was one piece of information that
Bethany which Johnny did not publicly share, that Bethany would do.
Bethany was a nervous nailbiter and twirled her hair when
(09:24):
she was nervous. Although the police did not arrive to
the bus station in time to find the girl and
the woman, they did confirm that two tickets to Moline,
Illinois were purchased. We will tell you when the bus
arrived in Moline, Illinois. Neither the woman nor the girl
were on the bus, so that has us wondering did
they ever even get on the bus. A man sitting
(09:47):
at the bus station recalls seeing the woman and the girl,
and when asked where they were headed, the young girl
told him Disneyland. The man then observed that the woman
seemed very protective, not allowing the young girl to even
walk a few feet away to the drink machine, but
he shrugged it off. You know, likely this is just
an overprotective parent.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I had a very instilledy good relationship with the TVI,
and they would come to me with all kinds of information. Hey,
this is what we found out. This is And every
time I would do an interview and I would get
asked questions, I would the tv I were mostly always
there with me, and they'd look, you know, I would
look at them and they're like, and I kept everything
(10:31):
under wraps for fear fucking up the case.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Johnny explains to us that many years went by where
she was so cautious about what information she shared, but
she realized one day that almost twenty five years have
gone and it was time to share it all. Rachel
and I asked former Commander Michael with the Jackson Police
department about the sighting in Cleveland.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Could it have been her, We still don't know, but
we never could establish.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That it was from Cleveland, Tennessee. Will be the same
town that Larry himself would move to after he left Gleeson, Tennessee.
And it's now we introduce you to Larry's sister in law,
a woman named Carol Markowski. Carol Markowski is deceased now, however,
she was married to one of Larry's brothers, Robert Markowski.
Why bring this up, Well, a police sketch was circulating
(11:24):
of a woman who was allegedly added private or Catholic
school in Sweetwater, Tennessee, which is about forty two miles
north of Cleveland, and where his sister in law had
been residing at the time. And this police sketch looks
very similar to Carol Markowski, short, unkept hair at the time,
a bit of a turned up nose. However, Carol had
light eyes and the sketch artist was told that the
(11:45):
woman had dark eyes. So what happened, Well, a few
weeks before the sighting at the diner in Cleveland, Tennessee,
a woman walked a young girl into a private school
in Sweetwater, Tennessee and tried to enroll her. The staff
pushed back, saying they could not accept her application for
enrollment without her information, and the woman had none with her.
(12:08):
And it's then that the woman allegedly tells the school
staff quote, well, I'm her aunt. She'll have to return
with her father end quote. After this encounter is when
the police sketch began circulating, and it's this sketch that
will become widely known. It's important to note that the
police sketch of the woman is of the woman at
(12:29):
the school trying to register the girl. It's not a
sketch of the woman at the diner. Could it be
the same person? It could be, after all, the waitress
described her just like the school staff did, but that
sketch was not the woman who had the girl at
the diner for three days. And that's been a bit
of a misconception in this case the last few decades
(12:50):
that we wanted to clear up. When Larry asked about
who the sketch looks like, mister Larry mccowsey claims that
it looks like his mother in law, Johnny's mother. Only enough,
the sketch also resembles his own mother, Jannite Award. I
did find one school, a private school, not Catholic, that
is located right in the middle location of Carrol's apartment
(13:12):
and her parents' residence at the time, just forty minutes
north of Sweetwater, and that is in Knoxville, Tennessee, Saint
Joseph's School. This school opened in the fall of nineteen
fifty three, so it was well established by two thousand
and one, five miles from Carrol's parents' home and five
miles from Carroll's apartment in the middle sat Saint Joseph School.
(13:36):
Carol had an address in Knoxville from nineteen ninety eight
to two thousand and three, and she also had a
peo box in Sweetwater, the same town where the alleged
sighting of Bethany was at the private school, and this
peo box was owned from two thousand to twenty fourteen.
These sightings filled Johnny with hope. In fact, when the
siding at the diner was reported, law enforcement truly believed
(13:58):
that they found Bethany, so much so that they called
Johnny and told her they got her. So what happened?
How did that trail go cold?
Speaker 9 (14:07):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
The tickets were said to not have been used for
the bus ride that day in April two tickets to Moline, Illinois.
So where did a woman and a child disappear to
and why did the trail go cold when they were
so hot on their heels. We'll post the police sketch
of the women trying to enroll a young girl into
(14:28):
the private school in Sweetwater, the sketch, which also seems
to be the same description as a woman at the diner.
One question that sits stale in the air for most
of us is this, who was the woman at the
diner waiting for Why did she wait three days before
calling a cab to take them to the bus station.
Some of Johnny's family has a theory one I did
(14:48):
ask Larry's wife Valerie about. But first, here's Bethany's cousin Jordan.
Speaker 6 (14:53):
I think about that, like the first sightings of that
girl and the woman in the cafe and stuff. I mean,
it's probably also that you guys already know, but like
that he was supposed to deliver to that exact cafe,
but his truck was delayed for like three days because
it was like broken down and getting fixed, and the
woman and the girl were calling on the phone for
(15:15):
three days.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
We asked Johnny about the delivery to the cafe or
the diner, and she clarified that she does not believe
he was meant to deliver to the diner, but rather
to Cleveland, the town where the diner was located in.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
And then also the girl that the witness that saw
the little girl and the woman. She said that the
girl was like biting her nails and that was something
that had not been disclosed to the public that Bethany
did whenever she was nervous. And there's all those little
(15:49):
things there was. If I can try to remember right.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Now, I asked Valerie, Larry's wife about the cafe or diner.
Here's our conversation, Jules, can you help us understand the
diner sighting, the woman and the young girl. Three individuals
picked out correctly as Bethany were at the cafe for
three days waiting for someone. Larry was scheduled to deliver
(16:12):
a load the first day they were there, but his
truck broke down for three days. I don't have documents
to back that up, to prove or disprove, so I
wanted to directly ask y'all did Larry's truck break down
in was he supposed to be at that diner? Valerie?
As long as I have been with Larry, I've never
heard of him deliver into diners or cafes unless it
has slipped my mind, but I really don't think so.
(16:34):
Larry has always delivered to distribution centers, not little diners
or cafes, just like that Catholic school in Sweetwater. Have
you got any information on the Catholic school in Sweetwater?
Because I have asked around and no one has ever
heard of a Catholic school in Sweetwater. I googled it also,
and she has a point. I too, could not find
the Catholic school in Sweetwater, Tennessee in two thousand and one.
(16:55):
You know from my interactions with Valerie Markowski she seems
forthcoming and almost has a desire to set the record straight.
Of course, she never met Bethany. Larry and Valerie will
meet in June of two thousand and one, three months
after Bethany goes missing, but she stands staunch in his
innocence and will dig deeper into that in later episodes.
(17:15):
Can two things be true? Could Larry have been a
horrible person to many people in this life? In two
thousand and one and before, but also had nothing to
do with Bethany's disappearance. Absolutely, we'll continue to explore this.
But I never did get a response about Larry's truck
whether it was broken down for three days, the same
three days the woman and the girl were at the
(17:37):
cafe waiting for somebody. Since I have you here, I
thought we could go through the most recent messages with Valerie.
Our conversation took place after we already recorded chapter one,
so I'd like to take this opportunity to share Valerie
and Larry's answers to questions we addressed in chapter one.
So let's back up to March fourth. Now stay with
(17:58):
me here, this gets interesting. Remember that morning call Bethany
made to Johnny, the one from the landline at that
family home in Gleeson recalled that Bethany told Johnny that
Larry knew her mother had a new boyfriend. And then
it was reported that Larry drove Bethany to this man's
house and they sat in front of the home. Jules.
(18:18):
There are reports that Larry brought Bethany to Johnny's former
employee's house and sat outside in the car and told Bethany,
that's her mom's boyfriend's house. Valerie the boyfriend. He never
sat outside his house, he only drove by. She also
tells me that Larry did not park in the overflow
parking lot. That he says he parked on the side
(18:40):
of the mall across from the Strip mall side, and
we'll post a photo of this location on our website
missing in hushdown dot com and on our socials at
missing in Hushtown on Instagram. This conflicts with what law
enforcement told Johnny's sister aunt Laurie that amen on March fourth,
and that's this Larry's van was parked the overflow parking
(19:01):
lot out by the edge of the cemetery where the
shovel was found, but law enforcement had allowed him to
move it to where he alleges he was parked the
entire time.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Now.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Valerie also told me quote, I know he said he
never moved his van until a little while after the
police showed up. It should be on the report where
he was parked. End quote, to which I replied, quote,
we don't have access to the report unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
End quote.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Jules.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
The biggest loopholes we can't get answers for okay, why
did he turn off his cell phone for five hours?
Why was he at Natchez trace, Valerie, I can tell
you what Larry told me. His phone was never shut
off for five hours. Never Larry said about the trek stop,
He was absolutely never in there the date Bethany went missing.
(19:53):
He went in there a little while after and explained
to the man what happened, and Larry asked if he
could hang flyers. He doesn't know if the man made
an honest mistake or if he's just lying. He was
in there a couple weeks after the fact, not the
day of Jules. Did he shut it off at all?
The calls went straight to voicemail, and his phone wasn't
(20:13):
pinging until five forty three pm. We don't know who
the individual is who claimed to have seen Larry at
Parker's Crossroads, but he did say Larry told him that
he just dropped his daughter with her mother in Nashville.
She's thinking, Valerie. All I know is he said he
never turned his phone off. Also, he was never in
that truck stop until after Bethany went missing. Surely they
(20:36):
have cameras. Did the police not check that?
Speaker 6 (20:39):
You know?
Speaker 4 (20:40):
I had the same question. It's unclear to me whether
Valerie is saying Larry never stepped foot in that truck
stop at Parker's Crossroads until a few weeks after Bethany
went missing, or if he had been there in the
past but just not. On March four, two thousand and one,
here's Larry's daughter, Bethany's older sister, Jenny, and she is
sharing about Larry's first unsupervised visit with Bethany.
Speaker 10 (21:03):
On the way home from that visit, that night, he
stopped at that same convenience store in Parker's Crossroads.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
He went into get gassed, and she was in the very.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
Back seat of the van with a sad face.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
And I got went back there and I sat with
her and I told her, I said, I know you
don't want to be here. You only have a few
more years until you're old enough to say who you
want to be with, and that you don't want to
come anymore. If you could just make it there, And
then I saw him coming out, and I told her
to put a smile on her.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Face because she knew what he would do if he.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Saw her like that.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
He would hit you.
Speaker 10 (21:47):
I'm not gonna say hit me, because I was grown
at that time, but he would be upset and he
would be mad, and you would know it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
It would probably.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Trigger him to see her back there.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
So I just told her to put a smile on
her face.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
What is equally devastating is that Jenny would not find
out that Bethany was missing until she called Larry on
March fifth to ask how the weekend when Bethany went.
Here's Jenny agud in an interview with myself and producer Rachel.
Speaker 10 (22:17):
Wanted to answer the phone and said he was asleep.
And I said, what's he doing asleep this late in
the afternoon? And she said, you don't know? And I said, no,
what she said, Bethany's missing. I'm like, whatever, bulls you know.
I was like, boll like I don't believe that. And
she was like, I'm serious, Jenny, Bethany's missing. She said,
(22:37):
watch the news tonight. And so I didn't have cable,
so I was at my neighbors then using their phone
when I called.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
So I came back later and watched that news and
that's where I learned.
Speaker 11 (22:48):
Right there with my neighbors, I'm March fifth, Yeah, wow,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So when was the next thing we talk to Larry.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
I don't I don't remember. It was all blur.
Speaker 10 (23:05):
I know that I was on the phone, uh, not
too long after that with my aunt. I called her sissy,
but also called Bethany's Bethany called me sissy. So I
remember being on the phone with my mom's sister telling her,
you know, talking to them, telling her everything that was
going on, and she said, I think she said they
(23:27):
just my mom. Also, I called her and I think
they just said the police just left Sidonia and that
they were they think they were heading my way and
I was home by myself, so and I didn't have
a phone. But when they got there, they were like,
who's Sissy, So apparently they knew, you know, they had
(23:50):
I don't know. But I'm like, I'm Sissy. Like I'm Sissy,
I said. And then my mom's sister is sissy. That's
what we call her. And I remember he's I was
sitting on the couch. I called my my boyfriend at
the time. I called his best friend's mom to come
up there and be with me. So I was alone.
(24:11):
I remember us sitting on the couch and one of
the police officers sat on my coffee table, and got
like up in my face. It was like, you know
what they do to people that have something to do
with hurting little kids, you know what they do to
them in prison. And I was like, I don't know,
I don't know anything. I don't know where she's at. Like,
that's my sister. I would definitely choose my sister over
(24:32):
Larry my dad, is what I said. And they went
through the garage, they went through the house. They you know,
just kind of came in real fast and left fast.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Did they ask permission to look?
Speaker 5 (24:44):
I don't remember. I don't I don't remember.
Speaker 10 (24:47):
I was so scared, crying, kind of felt like I
was in the twilight zone.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I just it was so fast.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So they treated you like a suspect. Yeah, within twenty
four hours of finding out your little sister's gone missing.
Speaker 10 (25:04):
I don't remember recall how long it was after she
was missing. I'd just shaken over them gumming up and
just swoop it in.
Speaker 12 (25:12):
So I find it crazy that they instantly swooped in
your house and searched your house and did all of
those kind of things. Yet the night that she went missing,
they didn't search his vehicle or do anything like that
with him.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Back to the vehicle. The nineteen ninety five asked her
a van. I asked Valerie Markowski if Larry had his
van shampooed or bleached after March fourth, two thousand and one,
and she replied, quote, the van was bought a couple
weeks prior and was already detailed out. Larry did not
clean the van. He was at his sister's after Bethany disappeared.
(25:44):
If he detailed his van, which he did it or
had no reason to, the TBI would know because they
were watching him. End quote. I wanted to clarify, so
I asked again, quote okay, so he never shampooed it
himself while it was in his place session end quote.
No reply to that. But here's where Valerie, not knowing
all the details hurt her theories and her defense of Larry.
(26:09):
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wasn't brought onto the case
until nine days after Bethany went missing. The TBI was
not watching Larry the first nine days. In fact, it
was local law enforcement, and even then Larry was not
yet named a person of interest. Valerie doesn't clarify how
(26:29):
long Larry was at his sister Laurie's, but her daughters
Kristen and Sarah Lynne both recall it was just a
few days. Remember, they weren't allowed to open the door
again for Larry after he left. This leaves just over
an entire week for Larry to have his car detailed
and shampooed, and according to Johnny, TBI agent Valerie Trout
(26:50):
told her that when they got possession of the van,
the carpet was damp and the van had been cleaned
with bleach water. Larry purchased the nineteen ninety five as
a van just a few weeks before Bethany disappeared. This
would mean that if the car was indeed detailed and
cleaned by the previous owners before Larry took possession, it
(27:10):
would have stayed damp for a month. March in Tennessee
is not humid, it's cooler weather. The carpet would have
zero reason to remain soggy. And it leads me to
wonder if the van was shampooed when TBI received it,
then why would Harold say they found a condom, a
pool of blood, and a pubic hair in the van.
(27:30):
If Larry did clean it out, how could he have
missed that we can theorize that the pool of blood
could have been seen, possibly with luminol, but the bleach
should have taken care of that. So we do have
more questions and more questions. One thing from chapter one
that still doesn't make sense to us is this, why
did he need his sister Laurie shed to store anything
(27:50):
in it at all? He was able to return home
and Gleason, and it wouldn't be until three and a
half months later, in July of two thousand and one,
when Johnny and la Larry's divorce is settled in court
where Johnny would be granted the home. So why put
anything in that shed immediately the week his daughter went missing.
(28:10):
When I asked Valerie about this, she wrote back, quote
from what I gather, this is me, this is not Larry.
Larry wasn't staying at the house all the time, so
he probably gathered some things and just put them in
her shed instead of having them piled up in the van,
because I'm sure he slept in it sometimes end quote.
This same van would be sold by Larry to a
(28:30):
car dealer on April thirtieth, two thousand and one, just
about four weeks after Bethany goes missing. The van is
then traced to an auction house in Florida, where it
was then purchased and sent to the new owner in
Puerto Rico from two thousand and one to two thousand
and three. The van will not have a trace of
a title, but we do know that the van was
no longer in the United States. Larry purchase fixed up
(28:52):
cars and sold them all the time, so this actually
was an odd to us. But what was odd is
this is the only car that ended up traveling out
of the United States. It could be he had no
control where the dealer sold it to or would send
it to, but we do know this. There's been a
rumor that Larry's van went to Mexico, and we went
to clarify that that van was never sent to Mexico.
(29:16):
Here's Jenny, Bethany's sister and Larry's oldest daughter, again telling
us about the van.
Speaker 10 (29:23):
After she came up missing. I remember him coming to
my house and Dresden. He pulled up in the van
and he told me to go look in the back.
And I went around to the back and there was
a box in there, and I said, what is this.
There's a bunch of equipment, and I'm.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
Like, what is this?
Speaker 10 (29:38):
He said they he said, they hacked his van. What's
the word I'm looking for? Stripped it the police where
they can hear?
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Oh, they wired.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
It, wired his van.
Speaker 10 (29:55):
Yes, And he found it and he tore it all out,
I guess, and put it in the back.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
That was Do you how soon was that after shoot
went missing? Do you know?
Speaker 10 (30:05):
Wasn long at all? Because he still had that van
and I don't know how long. I don't know how
long he had the van after. I don't recall, but
I do know. We were standing outside in my driveway
and he told me to go back there.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
We as former Jackson p D Commander Mike Colt about
the van being wired.
Speaker 8 (30:28):
Not going to go into the investigative techniques that were usual.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
That's fair. As we continue to dive deeper and deeper
into the depth of the unknowns in this case, some
pieces will begin to fit together and some simply won't.
I sat down with Johnny, her sisters Tommy, aunt Lourie,
and their friend Diane, and I asked what justice would
look like?
Speaker 13 (30:50):
What does justice look like for you? What will have
to happen for you to feel you have justice?
Speaker 9 (31:02):
To know what happened to Bethany.
Speaker 11 (31:04):
You want to know?
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I want number one.
Speaker 9 (31:10):
Number one. The most important thing to me is to
find out what happened to Bethany. It drives me crazy
thinking about her bones, you know, laying out somewhere and
just being herself. I don't it bothers me. I don't
like it, and she it is my baby, and Bethany
(31:32):
deserves to be laid to rest if she's not alive,
and to me, that would be justice. The number one
thing is to find out what happened to her and
for the person that is involved to pay for it.
I mean, whoever did this, and I think we all
know who it is has had twenty three years. I'm honest.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Yes, I do believe Larry.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Kill I do.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
As producers, we strive to be transparent and forthcoming with
each side of our cases. So I had to tell Johnny.
Speaker 12 (32:09):
So throughout this course of this, we're going to deep
dive and try to prove or disprove. And so that's
kind of because if we can disprove it, then that
goes you in a different partment. There's always a chance
of anything that takes us where, you know, I mean,
whatever we believe we have to follow the information, but
(32:29):
I think the team is focusing on proving and disproving
every single theory, and so, like you being as vulnerable
and open and sharing all these details, also everybody else
come to a conclusion and see why too.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
And so that's what we did. We followed every lead,
theory and piece of evidence from testimonies, documents, articles, and
it led us to new leads and tips. And after
a year of investigating, producer Rachel and myself caught a
lead that we couldn't ignore, and it led us to
create Bethany's Brigade Search Team, And on October eighteenth and nineteenth,
we'll be searching for Bethany's remains in a location near Jackson, Tennessee.
(33:10):
We're at the point, and I know Johnny's already been
at this point and we've talked about it many times
where we have to at least move forward and try.
Johnny cannot afford to ignore any tip. We'll take you
along the search in the last part of this podcast,
so you'll want to stick around. But that's a great
transition to our next chapter, Chapter three. Bethany Markowski, Missing
(33:33):
not Lost. Join us next episode as we introduce you
to Bethany, the young girl full of wits, spunk, personality,
and boldness. Fall in love with the Bethany her loved
ones new through their stories and memories.
Speaker 8 (33:48):
I think keeping her story alive keeps her alive. You know,
people will still know who she is. They still and
not just her, but you know any many other missing persons.
You know, I still follow a lot of forensics things
and just technology now is way far ahead of what
(34:14):
we had back then. Uh, people living and deceased that
have been missing for years have been identified, and I'm
hopeful for a resolution what happened to Bethany?
Speaker 4 (34:32):
So are we?
Speaker 9 (34:34):
So are we?
Speaker 14 (34:39):
M hmmm, h m hmmm, h h m hmmmm, h.
Speaker 11 (34:59):
M hmm.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Missing in Hushtown Season two is executive produced in partnership
by Fire Eyes Media LLC's Jules Thorpe and Johen Rivera,
as well as Mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft.
The script is written by Jules Thorpe and edited by
Heather Northcraft. Project lead is Rachel Holloway and master editing
and audio production is done by John Rivera. Jewels Thorpe
(35:43):
is your host. Fire Eyes Media Mom
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Has weird raising voices while raising kids.
In the pictures.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Can you tell me what was seen in the van?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
Yeah, I tell you exactly what was saying in it.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Welcome back to Missing in Hushtown Season two, Bethany Markowski.
This is chapter two, The Suspicious Aftermath, and I'm your host,
Jules Hi. Everybody, and last episode, we left off with
Harold Roberts, Larry's former best friend, talking to producer Rachel
about what he alleges he was shown by the FBI
things that were in Larry's van. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Oh, puddle blood in the van, condoms and the TV
carre Yeah. And I asked the agent that told me this.
I said that right there is enough for y'all arrest
him all out there, and they said no, because he
told us that she was on her period. I said,
(01:30):
what what about that TV carry in that condom?
Speaker 5 (01:33):
Whose is that?
Speaker 3 (01:34):
He said, well, we don't know. And I told him,
I said, well, you can go and get one of
her brushes or something that she used to have at
his house and find DNA's.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
You know.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
And I don't.
Speaker 7 (01:47):
I don't know whether that was ever done or not.
But that's that's the disappointing stuff about this. I want
to tell you that he better be thankful. I'm not
an agent. I'd have done had him.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
There right there in inconsistency, she sat on a thorn,
or she was on her period. If she was on
her period, wouldn't Johnny be able to corroborate this? I
promptly texted her, Jules, Hi, hits me again, quick question.
Did Bethany begin menstuating by eleven Johnny? No, she definitely
(02:20):
did not, And there we have it from the mother.
I believe, Johnny. They lived with aunts, cousins, then in
an apartment, but still with the help from family. I
doubt Bethany would begin a period without her mother knowing,
or any other woman in the family knowing for that matter.
Plus an eleven year girl men's stuating would likely mean
the school would be informed and the school nurse would
(02:41):
be available for Bethany to utilize her private restrooms and supply.
So no, we don't believe Bethany started her period by
that Friday, March second, two thousand and one, that she
was with her father on her second unsupervised visit. So
that leaves us with what Larry allegedly told the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation when asking if there was any reason
they would find Bethany's blood in the van, he said, quote, yes,
(03:05):
Bethany sat on a thorn end quote or did he
say this? And it's important for us to make something
very clear. We don't know Harold. Aside from our interviews
with him and our interviews with others who have shared
their experiences with him, We've been guided not to trust
everything he says, and although that goes without saying, for
us producers, we wanted to extend that warning to you too.
(03:28):
But it doesn't just stop at Harold. To be fair,
everybody's worldview and experience is biased and may cautiously be trusted,
even ours, But we can choose to hear, listen, and
present pieces we think are important for continuing the dialogue
as we search for Bethany's whereabouts. We'll dive into the
warnings about Harold in a later episode, but as of now,
(03:51):
it's all alleged and according to his recollection, something pretty
unexpected has happened since we started writing the scripts for
this podcast, and it's this Larry Markowski's wife, missus Valerie Markowski,
has continued to establish a respectful texting relationship with me
and the last week I've been able to ask her
(04:11):
very direct questions about holes in this case. Throughout the podcast,
I'll be including part of our conversations. Mister Larry Markowski
did decline to interview in person, as we previously stated,
but he is answering my questions that I send a Valerie.
As we've stated all along, we want to offer everyone
an equal opportunity to share their truth. We believe it's
(04:32):
ethical to inform them what is going on in the episodes.
This isn't a gotcha podcast. It's a ask the tough
questions to all the players and then form theories after podcast.
The following is an excerpt from a conversation between Valerie
Markowski and myself through text. Now, this conversation occurred on
October sixteenth, twenty twenty five. I did not alter or
(04:53):
reword any parts of this excerpt. Jules, does Larry stand
by saying Bethany's sat on the thorn and that's why
there were some drops of blood on her pillow and blanket.
Valerie question is was it even confirmed to be Bethany's blood?
That's my question, Jules. We just don't know. They won't
confirm to us at all. But there was blood found, yes,
(05:15):
and the report is Larry said she sat on a
thorn when they asked if there's any reason they would
find her blood, Valerie, I mean it could be blood
from Larry Shaven. Even if there was blood found. I
only believe half of what the police say, and given
them one half is a lot. Jules, I guess my
question is if he said that or not to law enforcement. Now.
(05:38):
I didn't receive a reply to my follow up question
about it. When I spoke to Johnny about the blood,
I asked her where the confirmation about the blood spots
in the van, on the blanket and pillow came from,
and she told us it was from Special Agent Trout.
Valerie Trout was one of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations
assigned agents to Bethany's case at the time. We've not
(06:00):
been able to get in touch with Missus Trout, though
not for lack of trying. If you hear this, miss Trout,
we'd love to extend an invitation to interview with us.
We do have emails between Special Agent Trout and Johnny
that we will be referencing in future episodes, though, and
that brings us to the suspicious aftermath of March fourth,
two thousand and one, the immediate aftermath about four to
(06:22):
six weeks after. To be specific, it's apriland Tennessee two
thousand and one. Bethany leam Markowski has been missing for
more than four weeks. Severe weather begins to pick up
in the South. Warmth in this season, creating unstable atmosphere
makes perfect conditions for chances of tornadoes. About three hundred
(06:43):
miles southeast of Jackson, Tennessee, just above the Tennessee Georgia
border is a town called Cleveland Cleveland, Tennessee, and situated
in that town is a small diner, a few waitresses
working an overworked but very skilled small town cook in
the back in a hawk clutter kitchen, and sprinkled around
are both regulars and travelers alike taking a moment in
(07:04):
their busy days to sit down and enjoy home cooked
food and conversations. This particular day, a waitress notices a
middle aged Caucasian woman accompanied by a young girl. She
appeared to be about ten years old. The young girl
was twirling her hair, looking very nervous. The two sit
in the back of the diner in a booth When
the waitress approaches them to take their order, the woman
(07:26):
states that they're waiting for someone and they'll just have water.
It's then the waitress notices the woman's shoes are untied,
her hair appears to be unkept and unwashed, and she
looks to be hungover with dark eyes, with even darker
bags underneath her eyes. And next to the little girl
who looked nervous, it was hard for the waitress to
(07:47):
not notice that something seemed off. The woman didn't have
a bag, purse or luggage, no, Instead, she was carrying
a black trash bag. There was a payphone out front,
and the two would stand up from the booth, walked
to the payphone outside, make a call, and then come
back in. This went on for three days, Yes, three days.
(08:09):
The waitress followed her instinct and called the police, but
by the time the police arrived, the woman and the
young girl were gone. However, she was shown photos of
girls and picked Bethany out of the photos. Here's Johnny's recollection.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I didn't witness it, and I did not have it
in writing, but what I was told was when they
went to that cap paid to investigate it, they took
pictures of little girls. Bethanied me and one of them,
and the people, like the waitress said, oh, that's the
little girl. The guy and the cabs said, that's the
little girl.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
The police were able to track the women and the
girl through the cab company which arrived to pick them up.
And it's then that the cab driver also identified Bethany
and a group of photos of girls he was shown
and he confirmed he was taking them to the bus station.
One thing about what this man told enforcement has always
stood out to Johnny. It's one that she can't shake.
(09:04):
Could this truly have been Bethany? The gentleman said the
little girl in the cap was twirling her hair and
biting her nails. This was one piece of information that
Bethany which Johnny did not publicly share, that Bethany would do.
Bethany was a nervous nailbiter and twirled her hair when
(09:24):
she was nervous. Although the police did not arrive to
the bus station in time to find the girl and
the woman, they did confirm that two tickets to Moline,
Illinois were purchased. We will tell you when the bus
arrived in Moline, Illinois. Neither the woman nor the girl
were on the bus, so that has us wondering did
they ever even get on the bus. A man sitting
(09:47):
at the bus station recalls seeing the woman and the girl,
and when asked where they were headed, the young girl
told him Disneyland. The man then observed that the woman
seemed very protective, not allowing the young girl to even
walk a few feet away to the drink machine, but
he shrugged it off. You know, likely this is just
an overprotective parent.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I had a very instilledy good relationship with the TVI,
and they would come to me with all kinds of information. Hey,
this is what we found out. This is And every
time I would do an interview and I would get
asked questions, I would the tv I were mostly always
there with me, and they'd look, you know, I would
look at them and they're like, and I kept everything
(10:31):
under wraps for fear fucking up the case.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Johnny explains to us that many years went by where
she was so cautious about what information she shared, but
she realized one day that almost twenty five years have
gone and it was time to share it all. Rachel
and I asked former Commander Michael with the Jackson Police
department about the sighting in Cleveland.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Could it have been her, We still don't know, but
we never could establish.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
That it was from Cleveland, Tennessee. Will be the same
town that Larry himself would move to after he left Gleeson, Tennessee.
And it's now we introduce you to Larry's sister in law,
a woman named Carol Markowski. Carol Markowski is deceased now, however,
she was married to one of Larry's brothers, Robert Markowski.
Why bring this up, Well, a police sketch was circulating
(11:24):
of a woman who was allegedly added private or Catholic
school in Sweetwater, Tennessee, which is about forty two miles
north of Cleveland, and where his sister in law had
been residing at the time. And this police sketch looks
very similar to Carol Markowski, short, unkept hair at the time,
a bit of a turned up nose. However, Carol had
light eyes and the sketch artist was told that the
(11:45):
woman had dark eyes. So what happened, Well, a few
weeks before the sighting at the diner in Cleveland, Tennessee,
a woman walked a young girl into a private school
in Sweetwater, Tennessee and tried to enroll her. The staff
pushed back, saying they could not accept her application for
enrollment without her information, and the woman had none with her.
(12:08):
And it's then that the woman allegedly tells the school
staff quote, well, I'm her aunt. She'll have to return
with her father end quote. After this encounter is when
the police sketch began circulating, and it's this sketch that
will become widely known. It's important to note that the
police sketch of the woman is of the woman at
(12:29):
the school trying to register the girl. It's not a
sketch of the woman at the diner. Could it be
the same person? It could be, after all, the waitress
described her just like the school staff did, but that
sketch was not the woman who had the girl at
the diner for three days. And that's been a bit
of a misconception in this case the last few decades
(12:50):
that we wanted to clear up. When Larry asked about
who the sketch looks like, mister Larry mccowsey claims that
it looks like his mother in law, Johnny's mother. Only enough,
the sketch also resembles his own mother, Jannite Award. I
did find one school, a private school, not Catholic, that
is located right in the middle location of Carrol's apartment
(13:12):
and her parents' residence at the time, just forty minutes
north of Sweetwater, and that is in Knoxville, Tennessee, Saint
Joseph's School. This school opened in the fall of nineteen
fifty three, so it was well established by two thousand
and one, five miles from Carrol's parents' home and five
miles from Carroll's apartment in the middle sat Saint Joseph School.
(13:36):
Carol had an address in Knoxville from nineteen ninety eight
to two thousand and three, and she also had a
peo box in Sweetwater, the same town where the alleged
sighting of Bethany was at the private school, and this
peo box was owned from two thousand to twenty fourteen.
These sightings filled Johnny with hope. In fact, when the
siding at the diner was reported, law enforcement truly believed
(13:58):
that they found Bethany, so much so that they called
Johnny and told her they got her. So what happened?
How did that trail go cold?
Speaker 9 (14:07):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
The tickets were said to not have been used for
the bus ride that day in April two tickets to Moline, Illinois.
So where did a woman and a child disappear to
and why did the trail go cold when they were
so hot on their heels. We'll post the police sketch
of the women trying to enroll a young girl into
(14:28):
the private school in Sweetwater, the sketch, which also seems
to be the same description as a woman at the diner.
One question that sits stale in the air for most
of us is this, who was the woman at the
diner waiting for Why did she wait three days before
calling a cab to take them to the bus station.
Some of Johnny's family has a theory one I did
(14:48):
ask Larry's wife Valerie about. But first, here's Bethany's cousin Jordan.
Speaker 6 (14:53):
I think about that, like the first sightings of that
girl and the woman in the cafe and stuff. I mean,
it's probably also that you guys already know, but like
that he was supposed to deliver to that exact cafe,
but his truck was delayed for like three days because
it was like broken down and getting fixed, and the
woman and the girl were calling on the phone for
(15:15):
three days.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
We asked Johnny about the delivery to the cafe or
the diner, and she clarified that she does not believe
he was meant to deliver to the diner, but rather
to Cleveland, the town where the diner was located in.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
And then also the girl that the witness that saw
the little girl and the woman. She said that the
girl was like biting her nails and that was something
that had not been disclosed to the public that Bethany
did whenever she was nervous. And there's all those little
(15:49):
things there was. If I can try to remember right.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
Now, I asked Valerie, Larry's wife about the cafe or diner.
Here's our conversation, Jules, can you help us understand the
diner sighting, the woman and the young girl. Three individuals
picked out correctly as Bethany were at the cafe for
three days waiting for someone. Larry was scheduled to deliver
(16:12):
a load the first day they were there, but his
truck broke down for three days. I don't have documents
to back that up, to prove or disprove, so I
wanted to directly ask y'all did Larry's truck break down
in was he supposed to be at that diner? Valerie?
As long as I have been with Larry, I've never
heard of him deliver into diners or cafes unless it
has slipped my mind, but I really don't think so.
(16:34):
Larry has always delivered to distribution centers, not little diners
or cafes, just like that Catholic school in Sweetwater. Have
you got any information on the Catholic school in Sweetwater?
Because I have asked around and no one has ever
heard of a Catholic school in Sweetwater. I googled it also,
and she has a point. I too, could not find
the Catholic school in Sweetwater, Tennessee in two thousand and one.
(16:55):
You know from my interactions with Valerie Markowski she seems
forthcoming and almost has a desire to set the record straight.
Of course, she never met Bethany. Larry and Valerie will
meet in June of two thousand and one, three months
after Bethany goes missing, but she stands staunch in his
innocence and will dig deeper into that in later episodes.
(17:15):
Can two things be true? Could Larry have been a
horrible person to many people in this life? In two
thousand and one and before, but also had nothing to
do with Bethany's disappearance. Absolutely, we'll continue to explore this.
But I never did get a response about Larry's truck
whether it was broken down for three days, the same
three days the woman and the girl were at the
(17:37):
cafe waiting for somebody. Since I have you here, I
thought we could go through the most recent messages with Valerie.
Our conversation took place after we already recorded chapter one,
so I'd like to take this opportunity to share Valerie
and Larry's answers to questions we addressed in chapter one.
So let's back up to March fourth. Now stay with
(17:58):
me here, this gets interesting. Remember that morning call Bethany
made to Johnny, the one from the landline at that
family home in Gleeson recalled that Bethany told Johnny that
Larry knew her mother had a new boyfriend. And then
it was reported that Larry drove Bethany to this man's
house and they sat in front of the home. Jules.
(18:18):
There are reports that Larry brought Bethany to Johnny's former
employee's house and sat outside in the car and told Bethany,
that's her mom's boyfriend's house. Valerie the boyfriend. He never
sat outside his house, he only drove by. She also
tells me that Larry did not park in the overflow
parking lot. That he says he parked on the side
(18:40):
of the mall across from the Strip mall side, and
we'll post a photo of this location on our website
missing in hushdown dot com and on our socials at
missing in Hushtown on Instagram. This conflicts with what law
enforcement told Johnny's sister aunt Laurie that amen on March fourth,
and that's this Larry's van was parked the overflow parking
(19:01):
lot out by the edge of the cemetery where the
shovel was found, but law enforcement had allowed him to
move it to where he alleges he was parked the
entire time.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Now.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
Valerie also told me quote, I know he said he
never moved his van until a little while after the
police showed up. It should be on the report where
he was parked. End quote, to which I replied, quote,
we don't have access to the report unfortunately.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
End quote.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Jules.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
The biggest loopholes we can't get answers for okay, why
did he turn off his cell phone for five hours?
Why was he at Natchez trace, Valerie, I can tell
you what Larry told me. His phone was never shut
off for five hours. Never Larry said about the trek stop,
He was absolutely never in there the date Bethany went missing.
(19:53):
He went in there a little while after and explained
to the man what happened, and Larry asked if he
could hang flyers. He doesn't know if the man made
an honest mistake or if he's just lying. He was
in there a couple weeks after the fact, not the
day of Jules. Did he shut it off at all?
The calls went straight to voicemail, and his phone wasn't
(20:13):
pinging until five forty three pm. We don't know who
the individual is who claimed to have seen Larry at
Parker's Crossroads, but he did say Larry told him that
he just dropped his daughter with her mother in Nashville.
She's thinking, Valerie. All I know is he said he
never turned his phone off. Also, he was never in
that truck stop until after Bethany went missing. Surely they
(20:36):
have cameras. Did the police not check that?
Speaker 6 (20:39):
You know?
Speaker 4 (20:40):
I had the same question. It's unclear to me whether
Valerie is saying Larry never stepped foot in that truck
stop at Parker's Crossroads until a few weeks after Bethany
went missing, or if he had been there in the
past but just not. On March four, two thousand and one,
here's Larry's daughter, Bethany's older sister, Jenny, and she is
sharing about Larry's first unsupervised visit with Bethany.
Speaker 10 (21:03):
On the way home from that visit, that night, he
stopped at that same convenience store in Parker's Crossroads.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
He went into get gassed, and she was in the very.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
Back seat of the van with a sad face.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
And I got went back there and I sat with
her and I told her, I said, I know you
don't want to be here. You only have a few
more years until you're old enough to say who you
want to be with, and that you don't want to
come anymore. If you could just make it there, And
then I saw him coming out, and I told her
to put a smile on her.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Face because she knew what he would do if he.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
Saw her like that.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
He would hit you.
Speaker 10 (21:47):
I'm not gonna say hit me, because I was grown
at that time, but he would be upset and he
would be mad, and you would know it.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
It would probably.
Speaker 6 (21:57):
Trigger him to see her back there.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
So I just told her to put a smile on
her face.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
What is equally devastating is that Jenny would not find
out that Bethany was missing until she called Larry on
March fifth to ask how the weekend when Bethany went.
Here's Jenny agud in an interview with myself and producer Rachel.
Speaker 10 (22:17):
Wanted to answer the phone and said he was asleep.
And I said, what's he doing asleep this late in
the afternoon? And she said, you don't know? And I said, no,
what she said, Bethany's missing. I'm like, whatever, bulls you know.
I was like, boll like I don't believe that. And
she was like, I'm serious, Jenny, Bethany's missing. She said,
(22:37):
watch the news tonight. And so I didn't have cable,
so I was at my neighbors then using their phone
when I called.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
So I came back later and watched that news and
that's where I learned.
Speaker 11 (22:48):
Right there with my neighbors, I'm March fifth, Yeah, wow,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
So when was the next thing we talk to Larry.
Speaker 5 (23:02):
I don't I don't remember. It was all blur.
Speaker 10 (23:05):
I know that I was on the phone, uh, not
too long after that with my aunt. I called her sissy,
but also called Bethany's Bethany called me sissy. So I
remember being on the phone with my mom's sister telling her,
you know, talking to them, telling her everything that was
going on, and she said, I think she said they
(23:27):
just my mom. Also, I called her and I think
they just said the police just left Sidonia and that
they were they think they were heading my way and
I was home by myself, so and I didn't have
a phone. But when they got there, they were like,
who's Sissy, So apparently they knew, you know, they had
(23:50):
I don't know. But I'm like, I'm Sissy. Like I'm Sissy,
I said. And then my mom's sister is sissy. That's
what we call her. And I remember he's I was
sitting on the couch. I called my my boyfriend at
the time. I called his best friend's mom to come
up there and be with me. So I was alone.
(24:11):
I remember us sitting on the couch and one of
the police officers sat on my coffee table, and got
like up in my face. It was like, you know
what they do to people that have something to do
with hurting little kids, you know what they do to
them in prison. And I was like, I don't know,
I don't know anything. I don't know where she's at. Like,
that's my sister. I would definitely choose my sister over
(24:32):
Larry my dad, is what I said. And they went
through the garage, they went through the house. They you know,
just kind of came in real fast and left fast.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Did they ask permission to look?
Speaker 5 (24:44):
I don't remember. I don't I don't remember.
Speaker 10 (24:47):
I was so scared, crying, kind of felt like I
was in the twilight zone.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
I just it was so fast.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
So they treated you like a suspect. Yeah, within twenty
four hours of finding out your little sister's gone missing.
Speaker 10 (25:04):
I don't remember recall how long it was after she
was missing. I'd just shaken over them gumming up and
just swoop it in.
Speaker 12 (25:12):
So I find it crazy that they instantly swooped in
your house and searched your house and did all of
those kind of things. Yet the night that she went missing,
they didn't search his vehicle or do anything like that
with him.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Back to the vehicle. The nineteen ninety five asked her
a van. I asked Valerie Markowski if Larry had his
van shampooed or bleached after March fourth, two thousand and one,
and she replied, quote, the van was bought a couple
weeks prior and was already detailed out. Larry did not
clean the van. He was at his sister's after Bethany disappeared.
(25:44):
If he detailed his van, which he did it or
had no reason to, the TBI would know because they
were watching him. End quote. I wanted to clarify, so
I asked again, quote okay, so he never shampooed it
himself while it was in his place session end quote.
No reply to that. But here's where Valerie, not knowing
all the details hurt her theories and her defense of Larry.
(26:09):
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation wasn't brought onto the case
until nine days after Bethany went missing. The TBI was
not watching Larry the first nine days. In fact, it
was local law enforcement, and even then Larry was not
yet named a person of interest. Valerie doesn't clarify how
(26:29):
long Larry was at his sister Laurie's, but her daughters
Kristen and Sarah Lynne both recall it was just a
few days. Remember, they weren't allowed to open the door
again for Larry after he left. This leaves just over
an entire week for Larry to have his car detailed
and shampooed, and according to Johnny, TBI agent Valerie Trout
(26:50):
told her that when they got possession of the van,
the carpet was damp and the van had been cleaned
with bleach water. Larry purchased the nineteen ninety five as
a van just a few weeks before Bethany disappeared. This
would mean that if the car was indeed detailed and
cleaned by the previous owners before Larry took possession, it
(27:10):
would have stayed damp for a month. March in Tennessee
is not humid, it's cooler weather. The carpet would have
zero reason to remain soggy. And it leads me to
wonder if the van was shampooed when TBI received it,
then why would Harold say they found a condom, a
pool of blood, and a pubic hair in the van.
(27:30):
If Larry did clean it out, how could he have
missed that we can theorize that the pool of blood
could have been seen, possibly with luminol, but the bleach
should have taken care of that. So we do have
more questions and more questions. One thing from chapter one
that still doesn't make sense to us is this, why
did he need his sister Laurie shed to store anything
(27:50):
in it at all? He was able to return home
and Gleason, and it wouldn't be until three and a
half months later, in July of two thousand and one,
when Johnny and la Larry's divorce is settled in court
where Johnny would be granted the home. So why put
anything in that shed immediately the week his daughter went missing.
(28:10):
When I asked Valerie about this, she wrote back, quote
from what I gather, this is me, this is not Larry.
Larry wasn't staying at the house all the time, so
he probably gathered some things and just put them in
her shed instead of having them piled up in the van,
because I'm sure he slept in it sometimes end quote.
This same van would be sold by Larry to a
(28:30):
car dealer on April thirtieth, two thousand and one, just
about four weeks after Bethany goes missing. The van is
then traced to an auction house in Florida, where it
was then purchased and sent to the new owner in
Puerto Rico from two thousand and one to two thousand
and three. The van will not have a trace of
a title, but we do know that the van was
no longer in the United States. Larry purchase fixed up
(28:52):
cars and sold them all the time, so this actually
was an odd to us. But what was odd is
this is the only car that ended up traveling out
of the United States. It could be he had no
control where the dealer sold it to or would send
it to, but we do know this. There's been a
rumor that Larry's van went to Mexico, and we went
to clarify that that van was never sent to Mexico.
(29:16):
Here's Jenny, Bethany's sister and Larry's oldest daughter, again telling
us about the van.
Speaker 10 (29:23):
After she came up missing. I remember him coming to
my house and Dresden. He pulled up in the van
and he told me to go look in the back.
And I went around to the back and there was
a box in there, and I said, what is this.
There's a bunch of equipment, and I'm.
Speaker 5 (29:37):
Like, what is this?
Speaker 10 (29:38):
He said they he said, they hacked his van. What's
the word I'm looking for? Stripped it the police where
they can hear?
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Oh, they wired.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
It, wired his van.
Speaker 10 (29:55):
Yes, And he found it and he tore it all out,
I guess, and put it in the back.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
That was Do you how soon was that after shoot
went missing? Do you know?
Speaker 10 (30:05):
Wasn long at all? Because he still had that van
and I don't know how long. I don't know how
long he had the van after. I don't recall, but
I do know. We were standing outside in my driveway
and he told me to go back there.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
We as former Jackson p D Commander Mike Colt about
the van being wired.
Speaker 8 (30:28):
Not going to go into the investigative techniques that were usual.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
That's fair. As we continue to dive deeper and deeper
into the depth of the unknowns in this case, some
pieces will begin to fit together and some simply won't.
I sat down with Johnny, her sisters Tommy, aunt Lourie,
and their friend Diane, and I asked what justice would
look like?
Speaker 13 (30:50):
What does justice look like for you? What will have
to happen for you to feel you have justice?
Speaker 9 (31:02):
To know what happened to Bethany.
Speaker 11 (31:04):
You want to know?
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I want number one.
Speaker 9 (31:10):
Number one. The most important thing to me is to
find out what happened to Bethany. It drives me crazy
thinking about her bones, you know, laying out somewhere and
just being herself. I don't it bothers me. I don't
like it, and she it is my baby, and Bethany
(31:32):
deserves to be laid to rest if she's not alive,
and to me, that would be justice. The number one
thing is to find out what happened to her and
for the person that is involved to pay for it.
I mean, whoever did this, and I think we all
know who it is has had twenty three years. I'm honest.
Speaker 5 (31:58):
Yes, I do believe Larry.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Kill I do.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
As producers, we strive to be transparent and forthcoming with
each side of our cases. So I had to tell Johnny.
Speaker 12 (32:09):
So throughout this course of this, we're going to deep
dive and try to prove or disprove. And so that's
kind of because if we can disprove it, then that
goes you in a different partment. There's always a chance
of anything that takes us where, you know, I mean,
whatever we believe we have to follow the information, but
(32:29):
I think the team is focusing on proving and disproving
every single theory, and so, like you being as vulnerable
and open and sharing all these details, also everybody else
come to a conclusion and see why too.
Speaker 4 (32:47):
And so that's what we did. We followed every lead,
theory and piece of evidence from testimonies, documents, articles, and
it led us to new leads and tips. And after
a year of investigating, producer Rachel and myself caught a
lead that we couldn't ignore, and it led us to
create Bethany's Brigade Search Team, And on October eighteenth and nineteenth,
we'll be searching for Bethany's remains in a location near Jackson, Tennessee.
(33:10):
We're at the point, and I know Johnny's already been
at this point and we've talked about it many times
where we have to at least move forward and try.
Johnny cannot afford to ignore any tip. We'll take you
along the search in the last part of this podcast,
so you'll want to stick around. But that's a great
transition to our next chapter, Chapter three. Bethany Markowski, Missing
(33:33):
not Lost. Join us next episode as we introduce you
to Bethany, the young girl full of wits, spunk, personality,
and boldness. Fall in love with the Bethany her loved
ones new through their stories and memories.
Speaker 8 (33:48):
I think keeping her story alive keeps her alive. You know,
people will still know who she is. They still and
not just her, but you know any many other missing persons.
You know, I still follow a lot of forensics things
and just technology now is way far ahead of what
(34:14):
we had back then. Uh, people living and deceased that
have been missing for years have been identified, and I'm
hopeful for a resolution what happened to Bethany?
Speaker 4 (34:32):
So are we?
Speaker 9 (34:34):
So are we?
Speaker 14 (34:39):
M hmmm, h m hmmm, h h m hmmmm, h.
Speaker 11 (34:59):
M hmm.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Missing in Hushtown Season two is executive produced in partnership
by Fire Eyes Media LLC's Jules Thorpe and Johen Rivera,
as well as Mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft.
The script is written by Jules Thorpe and edited by
Heather Northcraft. Project lead is Rachel Holloway and master editing
and audio production is done by John Rivera. Jewels Thorpe
(35:43):
is your host. Fire Eyes Media Mom
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Has weird raising voices while raising kids.
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