LR1, thank you so much for sharing this very valuable link.
I'll post all my notes on this Chronology of Events, but first I want to focus on what I think is the most important information contained in the CoE:
The Big/Little Store:
Photo, Details, Timeline & Questions
Details
- [The girls were] last seen at the [Big/Little] convenience store on East Broad Street by the railroad tracks near Carroll High School. They were last seen at this location by two eyewitnesses [Merritt and daughter] who gave the girls directions to U.S. 231 and who overheard the other girl [Tracie] on the phone say, "Hey Mom." It was about 11:30 p.m. when the two witnesses left the location when they felt the girls had made contact with their family and it was safe to leave them. (CoE 8/4/99)
- Ozark police released a key piece of evidence in the month old investigation of the murder of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett. The piece of evidence is a partial picture of a white, gray, tan, or beige pickup truck that was parked in front of the Big/Little Store where the girls stopped to use the pay phone. The truck was parked at the store between 11:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on the night of July 31, 1999. Police feel that the owner or driver of the truck may be a witness that hasn't come forward and they are asking the public for help in identifying the owner of the truck. The picture is only a partial picture of the vehicle, so the make and model of the vehicle aren't clear. Police have been parking a variety of pickup trucks at the store and taking pictures of them to see if it would clear up the identity of the make and model. So far they haven't found a match. Yesterday afternoon at around 5:00 p.m., the parking lot of the store was filled with investigators and police vehicles working at the scene. (CoE 8/31/99)
- Police are still looking for another possible witness who may have seen something at the Big/Little Store on the night of the murders. The security tape taken on the night of murders shows a light colored truck leaving the store just before the Mazda, which the two girls were in, left the store. (CoE 12/12/99)
- Two women, Marilyn Merritt and her daughter, gave directions to J.B. and Tracie at the Big/Little Store. They added that after they gave the girls the directions, [Merritt and daughter] left the store heading west toward downtown Ozark and the direction to 231, and the girls left right behind them. [Merritt and daughter] didn't notice what happened to the girls after they left the store. The white truck that was parked at the gas pumps at the Big/Little Store left the parking lot before the girls did. They would like to talk to the driver to find out if they noticed anything unusual. (CoE 8/27/00)
- Police Chief Tony Spivey said that the white truck in the video at the Big/Little Store is believed to be a 80's model Nissan or Toyota with oversized tires or four wheel drive. (CoE 9/17/00)
Timeline (According to CoE)
- The white truck is parked at the store between 11:30 p.m. and 12:00 midnight on the night of July 31, 1999.
- Merritt and daughter give J.B. directions to U.S. 231 while Tracie calls her mother.
- Upon giving directions to J.B. and hearing Tracie say, ""Hey Mom," Merritt and daughter feel it is safe to leave the girls, as Tracie has made contact with family.
- Merritt and daughter leave the store, heading west toward 231.
- J.B. and Tracie leave right behind Merritt and daughter.
- The security tape shows the white truck leaving the store just before the Mazda J.B. and Tracie left the store.
- Merritt and daughter don't notice what happens to J.B. and Tracie after they leave the store.
Questions
1. Was the white truck already parked at the Big/Little Store when J.B. & Tracie and Marilyn Merritt & daughter arrived? Who was there first? Were J.B. and Tracie followed there by the white truck? Aren't these questions that could've been answered to some degree by Merritt and daughter?
2. What was the white truck doing at the Big/Little Store? The store was closed, no gas purchase was made, and no one was seen exiting the truck at any time. If the white truck has nothing to do with the murders, isn't it some coincidence that it sat there idling during the time J.B. & Tracie and Merritt & daughter were there talking, and then left at the same time as the other two vehicles?
3. Merritt and daughter left the store first, heading west. J.B. and Tracie were also heading west, so they would've been following right behind Merritt and daughter. When the white truck left (after Merritt and daughter but before J.B. and Tracie), which direction did it go? If the white truck was also traveling west, then we have:
- VEHICLE #1: Merritt and Daughter, followed closely by
- VEHICLE #2: The White Truck, followed closely by
- VEHICLE #3: J.B. and Tracie
In your mind, if the white truck left the Big/Little Store and headed east, does this reduce the chances that the white truck had anything to do with the murders?
4. Clearly the white truck was at the Big/Little Store at the same time as Merritt & daughter and J.B. & Tracie. Surely Merritt and daughter must've mentioned this to LE. So why, then, has it never been reported that
witnesses observed a white pickup truck parked at the gas pumps during this key time? MSM articles only reference the white pickup truck being spotted by the surveillance camera. LE has to rely on this partial view of the truck from inside the Big/Little Store instead of eyewitness testimony from
outside the store. Why?
5. What made Merritt and daughter feel it was okay to leave J.B. and Tracie when the white truck was parked at the gas pumps? The suspicious white truck was a potential immediate threat to the girls and had every advantage compared to Tracie's mother on the other end of the phone as potential protector.
6. Were Marilyn Merritt and her daughter the original intended victims?
7. What does the surveillance photo tell us?
8. If the occupant(s) of the white truck is NOT responsible for the murders, why haven't they come forward? An obvious reason would be fear of being charged with a crime they did not commit, but knowing they would be cleared through DNA testing and print comparison, why not come forward? This would help LE rule out the white truck as a vehicle of interest and direct their energy toward the real killer(s).
9. Is it possible the occupant(s) of the white truck overheard Merritt giving J.B. directions, left the store going in a different direction than the other two vehicles, and caught up with/cut off J.B. and Tracie, perhaps as they were heading south on 123?
10. At what point did Merritt and daughter turn off/leave the route taken by J.B. and Tracie?
