Simply Vanished

On the morning of June 6, 1984, in Greenville, Alabama, 12-year-old Sherry Lynn Marler accompanied her stepdad on errands.  He gave her a dollar to buy a soda from a gas station across the street.  She would never be seen again.  Chris discusses theories about the case.  Was Sherry the victim of a rare stranger abduction or something even more sinister?  

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
People just want to know whatit's like to be me. How does it
feel to see a dead body, tell afamily their loved one has been
murdered, talk to a rape victim,catch a killer, and get them to
confess, hold on tight, myfriends, get ready for the
journey. And welcome to murderwith mannina. Hello, everyone,

(00:23):
and welcome to another editionof murder with mannina. Thank
you for the nice comments Idon't think I've shared with
you, Colleen and I got a fewsaying they really enjoyed it.
The cases are intriguing. So weappreciate that. And please keep
sending ones that you want us totalk about. And get out there if
you have any. So but of course,here we are, again, talking

(00:47):
about another mass shooting massshooting at a school in
Nashville. And before we talkabout that a little bit, I want
to say I want to give a hugeshout out to the Nashville
police department because one ofthe positive things that's
happening from these horribletragedies is that police
departments are training a lotmore on how to handle these and

(01:07):
they're reacting a lot quicker.
And from the time that the callcame in, that there was a
shooting at the school, it tookthem 14 minutes to kill the
shooter. So that's a hugeshot is impressive. In the
video, it's so impressive thevideo and
the officers, you see a littlebit of the video and you're

(01:28):
seeing kind of how they'retactically going into the school
and going up and down steps.
And, you know, you can practicethat all day long. And you're
never going to be able topractice it enough to be 100%
safe. And you know, that'sthat's the heart of police
officers that can train andtrain and train, knowing that
today could be the day thattheir life, you know, was and
and all those officers that wentin there, you know, had one

(01:50):
thing on their mind that there'sbabies and children and things
in the school needed to get inthere. So huge shout out to the
National Police Department andthe way that they responded and
did their jobs completely. So Ijust wanted to say that. And of
course, again, I don't know howmany times we have to say
prayers to the victims, prayersto the families, three children,

(02:13):
three administrators along witha custodian was involved. And
it's just super sad. I'm justI'm heartsick over it.
Well, the statistics areincredibly alarming. We're three
months into this year, and therehave been at least 89 shootings

(02:33):
that have happened on schoolgrounds nationwide.
Yeah. And this year, we're up topast I think, 122 mass shootings
this year, and we're in March.
And so that's just nuts. Yeah.
And like I say, you know, a lotis that, you know, and I've
learned this throughout mycareer that if someone decides
that they want to do something,there isn't really anything that

(02:55):
you can do to stop it. And inthis particular incident with
the shooting, the shooter had avery well planned out, had maps
to the school did surveillance,it wasn't a I'm upset, quick
reaction type of thing. It wasvery well planned out, and
you're not going to be able toprevent that. Now, of course,
there was no security at theschool. Because they didn't

(03:17):
think that they needed one. Itwas a church, a church school.
But you know, so when you lookat these shootings and things
and but this was very wellplanned out, so is well as it
was planned out. Again, kudos tothe police department that ended
it within 14 minutes.
Although Chris, the people inher life may have noticed that

(03:38):
something's off the shooteridentified as a transgender and
she was a former student at theschool. You know, the motive has
not been determined, or at leasthas not been announced. However,
they do think that perhaps sheresented having to attend this
Christian School. I mean, itseems like those kinds of
things. They're not completelydormant until something like

(04:02):
this happens. Right?
Right. No, it's not completelydormant. Yeah, no, my point was
just that when somebody decidesthat they're going to do
something, you know, you're likeshe she shot through a locked
door, you know, and so, but thetraining you can see in the
response time is improving, andwe're alerting, you know, as law

(04:23):
enforcement officials that, youknow, you've got to get in there
quick and you can't sit outsideand wait for SWAT because see,
that used to be the old thing,you would have a major incident.
And your first line of responseof officers would call for the
SWAT team. We just kind of sitoutside and wait. And that's you
can't do that shit anymore.
Anyways, I just wanted to bringthat up. So, but I do want to

(04:44):
talk about this unsolved case.
She was 12 years old and hername was Sherry Lynn MARLAR and
she has been missing since June6 of 1984. from Greenville,
Alabama. She was She is a longtime ago. She has a white

(05:06):
female, who was five four at thetime with brown hair and weighed
between 100 and 120 pounds. Shehad a one inch scar near her
shoulder. And she was last seenwearing a long sleeve flannel
shirt, faded jeans, graysneakers, with Velcro, and a

(05:27):
black band watch. She wasdescribed as a tomboy who loved
Kenny Rogers and farming. Shehad a nickname of little farmer
at the time of herdisappearance, she had both baby
and adult teeth into fillings.
What's of course is importantright? To know that information,
she lived in Greenville. Andthat was only a population of a

(05:48):
little over 70 501 A the mostimportant things to do, you know
like to talk about this as aninvestigator with a missing and
cold case is to lock down thetimeline as solid as you as you
possibly can. And I often tellmy friends when they're trying
to figure out if theirsignificant other is cheating or
locked down the timeline that'sso important. It gives you such

(06:10):
valuable information. And it'sjust super, super important,
especially when we're talkingabout hold cases and missing
people. So the timeline startslike this. Sherry was asleep on
the couch because her stepdadsaunt was in town visiting for
the week, so she gave up her bedto her share. His mother was up

(06:33):
early that day because she had ashift at the Waffle House that
started at 7am. A little after9am Sherry ran out of the house
as her stepdad was leaving torun errands. She was really,
really excited to go with them.
And she did that a lot. Shewould run errands with him. So

(06:55):
they were both seen around 930in the morning. The first was
that was at the First NationalBank. her stepdad had to sign
some papers. So Sherry told himthat she was thirsty. So he gave
her $1 and had her go over tothe gas station to get a drink
and the gas station was justacross the street from the bank.

(07:16):
Witnesses said they did seeSherry walking toward the gas
station. So right now based onall that, you know, the timeline
seems pretty reasonable andsolid. 15 minutes later, her
stepdad, Raymond was done at thebank and went out to his truck.
He was surprised that she wasn'tthere. 25 minutes later past he

(07:39):
started become a little bit morepanicky about it. I started
looking for her at the gasstation in the local stores, but
no one had seen her. He thenphones, her mom at the Waffle
House, but she wasn't there aswell. So he's he's hot and
around. And what's kind of crazyis at that point, no one had
seen her. So at around 1145 Inthe morning, she was officially

(08:04):
reported missing. So a couplehours after that she was
officially reported missing,which means that police were
called and they after gettingthe information from stepdad
they officially made a policereport. So that's what that
means when they say officiallyreported missing. So a massive
search started volunteers cameout in droves and comb the town.

(08:29):
This is interesting, a localFlying Service conducted an
aerial search as well. So that'snice. They had a bunch of
volunteers coming out and then alocal Flying Service did a whole
aerial thing. You don't hearthat happening very often. So
that was kind of cool. MissingPersons posters were made and
plastered everywhere around townno one has heard or seen from

(08:53):
her since then. She would be inher 50s today and if you look
her up and you Google her you'llsee progression age progression
photos of her so obviously youknow as good investigators and
it sounded like they did apretty good job of trying to
investigate this they look famthey looked at family very

(09:14):
closely and it appeared you knowat least at this point in time
that they had eliminatedeveryone evidently several
people have been question andhardly any information has come
in over the years in referenceto that case like hardly any
tips no information. Ramin isher stepfather um was questioned

(09:35):
first which was good obviouslyhe's the last one that you know
because the bank have, you know,cameras and things and the last
one physically seen with her.
First he was he was offered butthis is this is interesting. He
was offered a polygraph but herefused to take it, which always
just bothers me. Sherry's mom.

(09:57):
Betty never believed that herhas had anything to do with her
disappearance like to this daydoes not believe at all that he
was involved. I just hate itwhen they won't take the the
date the polygraph. And aninterview with Betty in 2013. In
the hospital's stepdad was inthe it was in the hospital in an

(10:17):
intensive care. And he told herright before his death that he
didn't know what happened toSherry saying, I wish I could
get out of this bed and bringher home to you. And to this
day, she still doesn't believefor a second that he had
anything to do with her beingmissing, but I go back to them.
Why don't you think the polling?

(10:39):
Okay, wow, when and why? And whywouldn't he? What would be the
reason that someone wouldn'ttake I mean, you know, there's
people thatrefuse to take the polygraph
that didn't do it. I mean, theydidn't do it, they just don't
want it. One of the fears is, isthat they're afraid that it will
show deception. When they knowthey didn't do it. They're still
they're still afraid thatdeception could be shown, you

(11:01):
know, and so that's kind of thecouple things that I've had from
people that I've wanted to havetake polygraphs, they just said,
Now, nope. I don't believe inhim. You know, and, and like I
said before, it's not somethingyou can use in court. It's just
a tool, but it would have beenreally, really helpful. Because
now we'll never know, this caseis, you know, unsolved. We'll

(11:22):
never really know, if he wasinvolved. And I think, you know,
they cleared him, they clearedhim, he was a person of
interest, but they cleared him.
You know, they don't think he'sa suspect, or they didn't have
enough to believe that he was.
But it would just, you know,make me feel better at this
point. Just to and I'm sure theinvestigators to that he, you

(11:44):
know, would have taken it, thenit would have been like, okay,
for sure. You know, because Ithink I believe in the
polygraph. I mean, I believe init. So. But so a big question
I'd like to know is the stopthat is the stop dad left the
the time that he left, the bankwas at 930. And I would you
know, did people see him between930 and 1130? When she was

(12:07):
officially reported missing toinvestigators? Did they see him
actually out looking for her?
Because if they did fantastic ifthey didn't, then maybe he
killed her and and took hersomewhere? that would that would
be the number one question,because it sounds like it was a
really small panel,like what was his history? did?
Was there anything in hischaracter or in his history that

(12:30):
would indicate that he had thepotential to do something like
that?
Nothing that I could find? Andmom, you know, his wife
believed, you know, didn'tbelieve for a second. But, you
know, like always, there's stillshady stuff, you know that that
happens that never, you know, wedon't we never find so. So two

(12:51):
hours is a long time enough tokill him to kill her and burp
and bury her is exactly what Ithought like, I would need to
know who saw him. Okay. And likeI said before, a mom doesn't
think that he is involved atall, so that it comes you know,
as investigators, it's like,okay, we've interviewed the
stepdad we've done a search, youknow, we don't have any anything

(13:16):
else. And you got to ask thequestion Did she run away?
Doesn't appear to be the case,mom has always said that she was
very happy and content. And shehad a birthday coming up and she
had no reason to leave home. Shehad plans that day to visit her
grandmother. She also had nottaken any of her belongings with
her that day. So there was noargument no fight, you know, and

(13:38):
moms, you know, given indicationthat there'd be no reason, then
of course, then you gotta maybeask yourself, Okay, stranger
abduction, it's always apossibility, but it's just still
very rare. always a possibility,but rare.
One thing that mom says may be alittle less rare at a gas
station since truckers andtrains kind of pass through. I

(13:58):
mean, still a crazy wildcoincidence that a predator
would be there at the same timewent over there
to get something to drink. Yeah,I mean, that's the thing. I just
just so random. Well, and I'vejust gotten such tunnel vision
on my, in my career that I justvery rarely, rarely did I see

(14:18):
random shit. Like I just almostdon't believe in it. Like, you
know that. Yeah, when somebodywins the lottery. Absolutely. So
I'm gonna get struck bylightning. Absolutely. Very
random but in, in the world thatI lived in for so long and still
continue to live in. I just Youjust don't see very much.
However, in the 80s in certainparts of the country, there were

(14:40):
there was relatively a highconcentration of serial killers.
Yeah. Right. I mean, you can'trule that out. What Absolutely.
One thing that mom pointed outthat I thought was kind of
interesting was that in 1994vending machines I was not
giving would not take dollarbill. So she had to ask somebody

(15:02):
at the gas station for change.
And so she as he's trying tofigure out, you know what
happened? She kind of made that,you know, made that point and
and kind of what you're saying,you know what she was she was at
a crime of opportunity did sheask the wrong person for change
for her dollars so that shecould get a soda?

(15:28):
Maybe not likely, but maybe andand that's the thing is like,
you have to keep every everyroad open because you don't
know. I mean, we don't reallyknow. So there were three
unconfirmed sightings. All threesightings said Sherry was with a
man about 50 years old, five,eight. And it's so crazy that

(15:49):
they just linked it unconfirmedbut five, eight who looked husky
and weathered. One of thewitnesses said she heard her
call him BJ. What's crazy is allthree witnesses said that she
looked dazed and disheveled.
Those were the words that wereused. Isn't that crazy?
What timeframe are these? Didwitnesses?

(16:09):
It did I couldn't figure thatout? I couldn't, but it was
fairly close. But they didn'tsay it wasn't that day. But just
over the years. And like I saidbefore,
if they see a young girl lookingdazed and just shoveled, why did
they not reply? Why did they notcall the cops and say
something's off about my got thelicense plate? Or this is where
they are?
You know? That's a whole otherdiscussion. I don't know. It's

(16:32):
just crazy. But that's a whole,the more people I talk to,
because I'm intrigued by that,you know, would you get yourself
involved in the like, no, theworld is too dangerous. I'm not
getting myself involved. It'sall I can do to stay keep safe
myself and keep my childrensafe. I'm not stepping out of my
comfort zone to help somebodyelse. And, and when you look at

(16:53):
these cases, and even you know,with these unconfirmed
sightings, you know, why didn'tthey call? Or why wasn't more
than sohard to understand, because I'm
exactly the opposite. I Yeah.
100% Yeah, opposite. I mean,even like so much as somebody
driving erratically on the road,I don't want them to hit an
innocent person. I'm going tomake sure the cops get them.
Alright, so we went jumped to2018. The sheriff's office said

(17:15):
that Sherry, I guess theylearned this that Sherry had
stayed with her stepsister andher husband, in the summer of
1983. Please had received a tipthat she was spotted in that
area after she was reportedmissing. So that begs the
question, were other familymembers involved in 2019. This

(17:38):
is interesting. This is somebodythat got involved a woman by the
name of Ryan Welch post postedon Sherry Lynn Marla's that,
that posted on a Facebook pagethat she was still missing and
said the following this ladywho's been following this case
and was just adamant, but sheposts on the Facebook page that

(18:01):
says Sherry MARLAR was murderedand dismembered by someone she
knew very well. And then inparentheses, not her stepdad and
thrown into a hog pen. in ButlerCounty. We believe the person is
deceased. We believe there wereone or two other people there

(18:21):
but we're also but are betteralso deceased. We strongly
suspect that she was pregnant atthe time we believe she was a
victim of a multiple familybased incest, like a pedophile
ring that involve people fromboth Butler and Crenshaw
counties. She says that they anearth a pig farm in 1984 and

(18:45):
they said they have videofootage of two separate cadaver
and and they have video footageand two separate cadaver dog
teams confirming hits on humanremains. She's She posted all
this on Facebookis kind of odd that she used
that public forum for somethingso sinister and grisly and

(19:06):
complicated. And far fetched.
Yeah. Right. They discoveredsome clothing that was sent in
for DNA, but none was found onthe clothing the woman and the
group of strangers have beenrelentless, relentless in

(19:26):
finding her. Mom, you know, hasfought hard to keep Sherry's
memory alive in 2010. On the26th anniversary of her
disappearance, she openedenterprise restaurant she opened
in the inner called anenterprise restaurant. She also
joined Team hope, a programcreated by the National Center

(19:46):
for Missing and ExploitedChildren. So if anybody has any
information about this case, youcan call the Greenville police
department at 3343827 461I'd like to get a hold of the
woman who posted on Facebook tofind out where what are hers?
What are her source? Right. Allright. I've already sent her a

(20:09):
message I just had she postedabout other cases. I mean,
what's her character? Well, Ithink I found
her on Messenger and sent amessage. But I haven't heard
back, but I think I think that Idon't know, I think her
intentions are good. And I thinkthat it probably didn't go any
further. I mean, they did sendit away, you know, authorities
did send away for to see ifthere was DNA, you know, testing

(20:31):
on the clothing and therewasn't. So I think if there
were, they would have dug alittle bit deeper. But I mean,
it's a possibility. But youknow, according to Mom, this
lady's, you know, not credibleand things to that degree. And I
can't figure out if mom, I thinkMom is still alive. From the
research that I did, but Ihaven't been able to really

(20:53):
confirm it, because she hasn'tsaid much in a while. So I hate
these cases are just so freakinhard. But I would really, I just
I would have to go back now andbe like, who saw him between
that 930 and 1130. Time I have.
So there's two things thatproblem with the he didn't take
a polygraph? And what was hisalibi? People see him? Right?

(21:14):
Yeah, what was his alibi? Wherewas he between 930 and 1130?
That's where I would start withit. But of course, he's now
deceased. And, and, yeah, that'sjust it's just, it's just sad.
Right? And you're right. I mean,is it? Is it a possibility to
random, I guess, right. Like yousaid, were they at that gas
station at that exact time whenshe decided that she was thirsty

(21:36):
and stepped out gave her $1 Towalk across the street to the
gas station? I mean, is itpossible? I mean, it's possible
just it's just I have such ahard time believing that
sometimes but I think you'reright in the 80s it was a little
bit of a different world andchild abductions and things were
a little bit more common than soanyways, that's that's that

(21:59):
feels sad. Dealing withNashville and looking at these
cases, it just bums me out.
Well, there's so many unsolvedcases, however, is the you know,
the positive aspect of thegenealogy, you know, the case
that you the ice five killer.
And like you keep saying, Chris,in the last few episodes, the

(22:20):
forensics are getting soadvanced and the genealogy is
getting so advanced that soon weare coming to a time where it
may truly be impossible to getaway with murder. So there's the
there's the bright side, right?
I mean, well, and if we couldcouple if we could seriously
couple, the advancement andforensics, the amount of people

(22:42):
who love crime and love lookingat these cases, if we could
combine all of that with peoplewho saw something that was a red
flag, we could talk we couldsolve a lot of cases. Well, just
like you said, look, it happenedin the teacher's pet. It
happened in your own backyard.
There are several, there areseveral suspects that have been
made suspects killers that wereconvicted just last year,

(23:06):
because of podcasters because ofinvestigative journalist who
started talking to people andasked
people if they see if they seesomething, say something because
you just never know that onetip. Oh, that one tip blows
things open. And I just thinkthat most I just can't believe

(23:29):
in my 26 years and then thecrazy brain that I have that
crimes occur that people nobodyin the world knows about. I just
don't believe that. Somebodyknows. Always, always always
always so be that person. Bethat person that steps up. Again
I good shout out to the NationalPolice Department for doing

(23:51):
their job and doing it well andagain, person the families.
Thanks everyone for listening.
And we'll see you next time onmurder with Medina.
If you have a cold case you'dlike Chris to review submitted
through our website at murderwith mannina.com and follow us

(24:13):
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at murder W mannina. We'll beback next week with a brand new
episode of murder with mannina