Okay, as promised, here is some of the transcribed interview. I'm having real difficulty hearing parts of it even with headphones, so it is taking longer than I expected and I need a break so the other half may not appear until tomorrow. And just so you know - verb tenses don't exist for some folks apparently, and I tried to transcribe it as verbatim as possible. To say this is "rambling" is to be kind.
Matt Palmgren interview with John Madewell, Channel 9
http://www.newschannel9.com/video/?videoId=1364845612001&play=now
Part One (transcribed by Thoughtfox)
JM: What have the last eight months been like for you and your children?
MP: Its been emotional for all of us. I think one of the things we planned on is that we got together and we set goals. One of our goals was to find Gail. And two, to protect the children. We wanted to protect them through this whole thing. So that led to a lot of our different actions, and so on.
JM: How did you break the news to them, as far as . . . that their mother was missing?
MP: We sat down with them, talked about it. They understood that there was a lot of emotions going on in . . . in the family. Their number one goal again was to find Gail. How do we find Mom? We hoped, you know, for the best, you know, we always did, throughout 8 months. Wed say prayers about it We just want to find where Mom went.
So my common (?factor? something) was that Mom was taking a break somewhere, you know, relaxing, uh, figure out what she wants. And that gave us a lot of comfort for 8 months.
JM: Have they had time to come to terms with losing their Mom?
MP: They have. Weve sat down and talked about it. Through this whole thing one of my goals was to be transparent with them. Theyre nine and twelve. They read the articles they read everything. They ask any question they want. I think one of the best things that happened is that the Hamilton County Sheriff Detectives Office took them out to the Brow and allowed them to ask any questions that they would like to. So they sat down with the and Jared is a very intellectual little kid (smiles) and he had a lot of questions. Both detectives very well answering those questions for them and will in the future. So . . . I think that brought a lot of understanding to them also.
JM: When her jeep was discovered, what was going through your mind at the time?
MP: Well, when I get the phone call, it was like oh my god, you know, you think about the last 8 months, and we were in a different line of thought
JM: What do you mean, a different line?
MP: We thought Gail went off somewhere . . . some of the things we thought she did. . . . She just went off . . . things that she was planning in advance . . . (smiling) . . . to, uh, go away a while for her stress levels or depression. Thats where we thought she was and where we continued to look and follow up on leads throughout the entire event. So that was our whole line of thought. When they called about the jeep it was like oh my gosh and it brings you back to day one. So it was like oh my gosh for the last 8 months (smiles) the line of thought so you bring it back to day one (smiles) and it starts its just totally different and it starts the thing all over again.
JM: I want to go back to day one, or that week preceding April 30th.
MP: Okay.
JM: You guys had a pending divorce.
MP: (nods)
JM: And police had been called twice out to your residence.
MP: (nods)
JM:
for arguments that had happened between the two of you, your guys disagreements there. What happened the following day?
MP: Well, if you go back to the first police report, the day before Easter Good Friday. Uh, I wasnt even at the house. This was, I mean both those reports, I wasnt even at the house. They were filed by Gail by herself if you actually read the reports. Umm, wanted to go to the lake house . . . I wanted to take a separate car . . . give us time to talk on that Good Friday . . . so I wasnt even at the house when she filed the reports. We were (garbled) and she was discussing whether I should take the Jeep or not and she left and came back and went up the hill. I was not even there. So when she came back and talked to the police they just wanted to know if I was all right they talked about a cooling off period. She went to the lake house and I followed the next day.
JM: You talk about you werent even there, are you talking about on the . . .
MP: I wasnt even at the house on the 20th, Good Friday! (raises voice slightly) I was up the road a good bit, didnt know the police were called. The police report was filed before I got back.
JM: You met with the police, right?
MP: They stopped and asked me if everything was okay. I said everythings okay. But, uh, Gail was driving erratic and I told her I want to get out of the car at the stop sign. And I did. And she drove back to the house and called the police.
JM: What about the 30th?
MP: On the 30th, I came home from the conference. I came home on the 30th. Uh . . . The alarms were changed. All the different codes were changed. I didnt know what was going on. Didnt know where my kids were. (smiling now) She said we/I (?) had taken off with the kids before without telling me. So I didnt know what was going on. Had no idea. Uh . . . I guess, you know, she drove by the house. . . and I didnt know where she was going but I was trying to call her numerous times. Alarms were going off in the house, as you might imagine.
And I got in the car and followed her up to where she was going, trying to beep and say hey, Im home. Jared had an awards ceremony that day if it wasnt for the tornadoes. And she, uh, pulled into the Signal Mt. Police Department. So that report wasnt even filed at the Signal Mt. Police Department and we didnt even have words. She said she didnt want to talk to us, she was worried about something, and she went back to the house.
I stayed there, per their request, and the police asked her to come back in 12 to 14 hours with the kids, and just have a cooling off period.
JM: What time of the day was it here at this point?
MP: About 11:30
JM: On the 30th?
MP: Mmmhmm.
JM: What happened after that?
MP: After that, we agreed. She went back to the house. The police were concerned at how long it was taking her there. We knew she was moving some stuff out. (smiles and laughs). And then came back up . . . police asked me to go up to Pruetts (Food Town) and wait. And I did as they requested. And, uh, she went down to the lake house with the kids and I was in communication with them through text or via cell phone to make sure they were okay.
JM: Let me make sure I understand this right. You said 11:30 . . . are you talking about the 29th?
MP: The 29th. (nods in agreement)
JM: On the 30th, on the Saturday
MP: On Saturday, uh, the only communication she had, she asked me. . . where I was . . . Jared called me and said they were on their way back. I said greatwe were going to spend the weekend together. Gail and I agreed (smiling) that it was Dads weekend, since last weekend was Moms weekend. (smiles) And she called me, she came back and asked how long it was going to take for me to get there. Got up there and, uh, the kids were there. Were just talkin and . . . there was no communication between Gail and I. On the 30th.
JM: Did you physically see her on the 30th?
MP: No. (shakes head no)
JM: My understanding was from the Sheriff that at 12:15 you were at home?
MP: I was at home, yes sir.
JM: And at noon, where were you?
MP: We stood there and talked about what we were going to do because the weekend before I didnt get to see
Mans voice off camera: I think hes asking you were you were at 12 oclock?
MP: Oh, at 12 oclock I was downtown. My Mom ran some errands. We were at a boutique store down on the North Shore. And thats when we received the phone call saying where were you and I said Ill be up there in about 20 minutes.
JM: So she was already at the house?
MP: She was almost there or was there.
JM: And she left the kids, is that right?
MP: She left the kids. She said she was going out to make some phone calls, uh, to her cousin, Sherry. Thats what the kids told me. Thats when we sat there and called her to find out where she was and what she was planning on. And shes taken off to the lake house before from Louisville when we lived there, as well as when we lived in Birmingham. Just kind of went there for her peace of mind. So we kind of thought thats where she went. So we spent the day together after that.
JM: When you didnt see her on that Saturday, how much time passed before you started becoming concerned or when did you . . .
MP: The kids and I texted her, said . . . you know, theres been patterns of this before. Said we hope youre okay . . . everything else . . . uh, find out what youre thinkin. Uh, she said she was going to spend the weekend down there and the kids were mine for the weekend. We were going to do baseball games, bike riding and everything else.
And uh, I got a phone call Monday morning from her sister and Arlene saying file a missing person, file a missing person . . . and Im like, why? Shes at the lake house. (smiles) And . . . thats where she is.
JM: This is Arlene Durham saying this?
MP: Right.
JM: What did you think when Ms. Durham said that?
MP: I said, Arlene, how did . . . Gails down there. Nope, Ive been following your . . . lake house. And I said why are you following? Whats going on at my lake house and stuff? You know, and she just started ragging me that she knows it and shes been over there and stuff. And Im like why have you been over there at our house? (smiling) You know. So finally I said okay, if you guys are that concerned, Ill go file it. So of course, I went right up the mountain about literally an hour after that conversation to, um, file a missing persons report with Officer Miranda.
JM: Now, Gails sister had all ready filed a missing persons report? Is that correct?
MP: (Nods head in agreement)
JM: May 2nd?
MP: Correct. (takes drink of water)
JM: Um, why did you wait to file the missing persons report after her sister?
MP: Her sister didnt tell me. Her sister called me also. There was nothing telling me that a missing person report had already been filed. So I went up there and was surprised. Officer Miranda came over and said a report had already been filed. And I asked him some questions about that. At the same time we know theres a three-way call between her sister, Arlene Durham, and a neighbor trying to give her possessions back already. (smiles) I thought that was odd. Here theyre pushing to file a missing persons report and theyre worried about Gails possessions being a different peoples houses.
Thats why I began wondering what the heck was going on, Im doing missing persons reports and stuff. And I did not know anything about her sister filing that report until Officer Miranda told me.
JM: What did the results of this investigation mean to you?
MP: It was a tragic accident. I mean . . . we were havin marital issues. Were workin throught em. Were tryin to find out the best things for the kids. Uh, its horrible. Its awful. Its like relivin (smiles) another death. You know. Um, I think all the Law Enforcement was doing their job all the way through. We were communicating with them., I think from day one we hired the best people we could because thats what you do, in my job, you go find the best people to go find and meet your objectives. Thats why we hired Mike Mathis (PI) and Lee Davis (attorney) and Brian Hoss (attorney) and the kids and I talkedlets go find it. And thats where we were going with this all, to get the best people and to find Gail.
We searched Florida. I know I have cousins there. Everybody was giving us information that were (sp) feeding all through the . . . to give to the Law Enforcement. That first (something) we searched New York. There was tips in Vermont. There was tips we followed up on every lead we could. But we werent going to go public with it. We were going to keep it private. And this was the private issue we were trying to . . . trying to handle.
JM: Why did you make that decision to go private instead of public?
MP: Talking to Gails family, we all decided it was a private issue. We know Gails had some issues in the past. We dont want that out there. And we just said were going to handle this privately. I thought we were all on the same page if you look at the press conference that was handled at Signal Mountain, were all asking Gail to come home. Unfortunately like I said it was a tragic accident. And it hurts to this day.
JM: Do the results of this accident, do you in your mind, do you feel they vindicate you? Do you feel exonerated?
MP: (stammers) I dont think theres any . . . I uh . . . I wish we found it day one. I mean, theres no vindication. Im not proud of anything. (smiles) Im glad of closure for me and the kids and stuff. Uh, the public . . . they were mean. (smiles) Ive learned a lot about what people can do to somebodys life, you know. And people that dont back you up. People that . . . even your work that youve done so well for, you know, that people jump to conclusions. Theres assumptions out there . . . and the one thing that we did was stick to our goals. That was to find Gail and to protect the kids and . . . no matter what I did with the protecting the kids, I mean, people scrutinized it. Whatever.
My kids are so proud of it all. They knew who they can trust. They knew who are true friends are now. (smiles) So . . . vindicated? I never did anything. I told them that from day one. To . . . all the people. And theres nothing to be vindicate really for.
JM: Is this a relief for you, as far as the findings of the accident?
MP: Uh, I dont know if its a relief. When you really think about my psyche for the past 8 months thinking Gail was off with friends or somebody. Ill wait till they find the Jeep. The kids believed that. I dont know if its a relief. I think that LE and Cue and everybody brought in did an excellent job and everything. I think I believe 100% in what the findings are. Even some are (to) my surprise. (smiles)
JM: You said Cue?
MP: Cue is the . . . uh, Kevin, Gails brother helped sponsor that in. (smiles) And we were supportive of it. He did it behind the scenes. Again, we kept our names out of Facebook and everything else. I didnt even know Kevin was behind it but he is a sponsor. (smiles) And he did a great job of bringing them in thats the missing persons
JM: Group from California?
MP: From, uh, I think South Carolina or California? But theyre all over. So they did some nice work with the Sheriffs Office. All I asked for was constant communication between that group and the Ham. Co. Sheriffs Dept.
Part One Ends at about 15: 32
