Of Guilt and Innocence (12 page)

Jim cautiously approached the group of police officers and crime scene techs that formed a semi-circle from the water's edge. The group consisted of four uniformed Broward County Sherriff's deputies, two men in suits Jim didn't recognize, Dan, Sergeant Phillips, and several crime scene technicians from Broward County. He knew what he was about to see--he had known he would most likely see it at some point from the minute he realized he was working a legitimate abduction--he just had hoped he wouldn't. He knew he needed to brace himself for an image that he would most likely remember for the rest of his life.  

The group still stood in a semi-circle, backs turned to Jim when he placed his hand on Dan's shoulder. Dan turned around with a look of disappointment and sorrow, then stepped aside and let his partner in on the discovery. Jim let out a deep breath and began inspecting.  

Strawberry blonde hair lay tangled and uncombed as it partially covered her shoulders and her forehead. The collar of her white shirt was flipped up, the three small buttons unbuttoned. The front of the shirt remained mostly white, but mud stains from the back protruded from both of her sides. Dampness covered the bottom of the shirt from her belly button down, as well as her back. Her blue jeans were buttoned and intact, however, they were soaked from front to back and covered in mud. Her right foot was exposed, and her left was covered by a shoe. A patent leather shoe, that at one time was white, but now was stained by mud. Her milky white skin still looked like that of a porcelain doll, but mud spots and blades of grass dulled it slightly. Her eyes were closed and if it wasn't for a large red line going around her neck she would have appeared to have been napping right there on the grass.

No one said a word as Jim took in the heartbreaking sight. He had only seen her in one picture before, but as he looked at her now he knew she must have been so full of life only a short time ago, such a bright light. Her skin, her hair, everything about her just seemed faded. The few white areas left on her shirt and shoes seemed brilliant in comparison. The grass beneath and around her seemed so bright green. He thought of the point in the movie
The Wizard of Oz
when the screen bursts with color from what had been just gray, dull imagery. Everything around her seemed to burst with color, to burst with life, while she remained gray.  

Jim began to slowly accept what he was seeing and get past the sorrow he felt in his heart for a little girl who would remain frozen in time at the age of five. He started gathering facts on how Ashley's body was discovered and anything else that would be useful to the case, which had suddenly gone from a kidnapping to a homicide. Jim was told that roughly an hour before he arrived the sheriff's office had received a 9-1-1 call about a little girl's body being found on the bank of the canal, partially submerged in the water. The caller seemed shaken but certain it was “the little girl who was missing” and urged the dispatcher to send someone quickly, then abruptly hung up.

Two deputies arrived shortly after the call was received and found Ashley's body. She was lying on her back, much like she was when Jim saw her. However, her lower torso was submerged in water up to just above her belly button, and the deputies made the decision to carefully pull her back out of and away from the water.

Jim was directed to the caller, who he had passed as he walked along the bank on his way to Ashley's body but never noticed. He was an older, short, heavyset black man wearing dirty blue jeans and a white short sleeved t-shirt. He sat on the hillside holding a fishing pole in one hand and a black tackle box in the other. The man's name was William Henderson. He told Jim that he fished the canal often, several times every week. He said he hadn't noticed the body when he first arrived, even though he was fishing only a couple hundred feet from it.

After being there for about a half hour he decided to walk down the canal a bit to try to find a better spot, and that was when he saw Ashley. His voice cracked as he spoke. William said he ran to the little girl and recognized her face immediately. He said he lived in Boca Raton and had seen the news story on her abduction. He checked for a pulse but he couldn't find one. William told Jim he wasn't even sure if he had done it right, but that her skin was cold and her body was lifeless and he just had a feeling she was dead. William said he panicked after that conclusion entered his mind. He ran to his tackle box and retrieved his cell phone and placed his 9-1-1 call.  

“I didn't know what to do, I didn't know if I should pull her out, I didn't know . . . I didn't know,” he wept. “Please tell me I couldn't have saved her. Oh Lord, please tell me that.”

“You couldn't have saved her, sir. You did your best.” In a time of great agitation for Jim, this was a rare moment of compassion. He didn't allow his compassion to linger, however, as he quickly requested William's address and phone number in case a follow up interview was needed.  

“I don't know how the gators didn't take her,” he said as he wrote his information on Jim's notebook paper. His voice was a bit sturdier and calmer now. “They out here, all over the place. Sometimes I have to drop my pole and get back cause I afraid they gonna jump out the water and snap at me. It was like God wanted someone to find her. Like God wanted her to be brought back to her parents. There really is no reason why a gator wouldn't have taken her, ‘cept for God.”

Jim returned to Ashley's location where Dan and Sergeant Phillips still stood. “We have to tell the family. The media is going to be all over this soon,” he said to both of them.

“Yeah, you better get going. Broward isn't going to give us any problems on this one. They said they will assist with the investigation as needed and that their crime scene will report directly to us. We are going to have to use the Broward M.E. though and they will be taking the body to their headquarters,” Sergeant Phillips said as he continued to look down at Ashley.

“Are you kidding me? These poor people lost their only child and now we are making them drive all the way to Ft. Lauderdale to identify the body? Come on, Chris, that's ridiculous.” Jim looked into Sergeant Phillips's eyes, even though they didn't return the glance.  

“I know, I know, but what can we do? It's a jurisdictional thing, you know that. Procedural. Now you guys need to get going before that news chopper starts flying over.” Sergeant Phillips took a deep breath. “God, it's fuckin terrible,” he said as he exhaled and looked up at the water.

Jim took one last look at Ashley. The image of his daughter, Amy, superimposed upon her. His thoughts began to head in that direction. What would he do if it were his child? Could he cope with the pain and suffering it would bring him? He quickly cast the thoughts aside and began making his way back up the hill, with Dan close behind.

Ashley's body had been located on the Broward County side of the canal, making the homicide investigation, at least initially, the responsibility of the Broward County Sherriff's Office. However, Ashley's abduction had been news across South Florida and so the deputies who first arrived at the canal were able to quickly identify the body as Ashley's.   

Jim and Dan had driven separately to the canal, and thus they had to drive separately to the Wooten home. Both were affected not just by Ashley's death, but by physically seeing her dead body. Both had seen dead bodies before on numerous occasions in their careers. They had both been unlucky enough to have seen dead children before, on one occasion each, and it was something that affected them both and was impossible to forget. The children they had seen, however, were victims of a car accident and a drowning. One had physical signs of injury far worse than the few that Ashley had. In those cases, however, there was no before and after. There was no race to save the child. There was never any hope, no matter how slim, that the child may turn out all right. There was only the after, there was only death.

They had an investment in Ashley Wooten, and now they had to change gears from trying to rescue her, as they had rescued Heather Martin, to trying to bring to justice her captor and killer.  

Heather Martin. Suddenly that seemed so long ago, though it had only been a little over five hours since they watched her climb into the back of an ambulance and be driven away. They had had mixed emotions at that time as they drove back to Boca Raton, but they both had hoped they could fully celebrate the good they had done when they were able to bring Ashley home. And even though they were bringing her home in a way now, they knew any celebrating or feeling of a job well done would be a long way off.

Both Jim and Dan would have preferred a longer drive to the Wooten home. The news they were bringing wasn't pleasant by any means, and neither wanted to give it. Dan knew it would be Jim who would ultimately break the news to the family, and he was both relieved to know this and worried about his partner.

Even though he couldn't relate to the love a parent felt for their child, Dan still knew breaking the news would be hard and that he would have to be strong in doing so. He had done death notifications before, but felt this one would be different given the circumstances. As a police officer, he was the image of strength, of reassurance. If he broke down the perception might be that this horrible thing had overcome everyone and there would be no one to be strong, to try to find answers, to try to find justice.

And in all honesty, Dan didn't know if he would be able to be that person. He was confident he could be if he didn't have to give the initial news, if he could stand by and at a later time offer condolences. That seemed different to him. But he was fairly certain he would stammer getting the news out, and it was possible his voice would quiver and crack. He knew Jim wouldn't have these issues. Though at times Dan did not enjoy being Jim's partner because he felt shut out by Jim's domineering nature, in times like these he was glad Jim was his partner for the very same reason.  

It was dark by the time Jim and Dan caravanned into the gated community where the Wootens lived. Jim had phoned Tom while he drove to let him know they would be stopping by to speak with them. Tom just acknowledged Jim's statement and told him that when they arrived at the gate to dial the numbers one, one, zero, then six into the callbox and the gates would open. Jim again noted to himself Tom's lack of questions and his seeming reluctance to engage in conversation, however, he also noted Tom's voice had a worried tone to it.

Jim pulled up in front of the house first, with Dan right behind him. There were two cars in the driveway that Jim did not recall seeing the day before when they had been at the Wooten home. He assumed family members had come to stay with the Wootens, which made what he was about to do both easier and harder at the same time. He would have the assistance of loved ones in comforting Tom and Lisa after he broke the tragic news to them. However, he would also have the burden of having an audience for his notification. Loss made people react in funny ways and the more people that would have to deal with the news of a loss, the more possibilities of someone dealing with it violently. But there was nothing he or Dan could do about that now, and they both gave each other a look as they stood at the front door as if to indicate “this is it.”

Jim rang the doorbell and heard a scramble coming from inside. The door quickly opened and Lisa stood before him. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was uncombed. “Hello,” she said in a soft tone, then sniffled. “Come in, please.”

Though she tried not to make it obvious, she peered behind the detectives as they entered the home, as if maybe Ashley was hiding behind them and they were playing a trick on her. At any moment they would shout “SURPRISE” and Ashley would run into the room and jump into her arms. But of course there was no one else with the detectives, no one waiting just outside for a cue to come in, and so she shut the door.  

Jim and Dan stopped a few feet inside the home in the foyer area. Family members gathered around them, much as Jim and Dan had gathered around Ashley just a short time ago. Tom stood by Lisa. To the left of Tom was his brother, Mark. Standing behind Lisa were her parents. They all looked at Jim as if they couldn't breathe until he spoke. As if the words that would come out of his mouth were vital to their existence. As if they already knew what was coming but had to hear it anyway. Jim looked into Tom's eyes, then he looked into Lisa's. He saw a look of fear. He summoned courage from deep inside him and widened his gaze to include them both.

“I'm sorry to have to tell you this; your daughter has been located. She's dead.”

Ringing filled Tom's ears. The back of his neck and face burned. The room was silent. No one was there. He was suddenly blinded by liquid filling his eyes and blocking his sight. What was only a second seemed like an eternity. His mind was blank, he felt no emotion, he just stood. Then, with his eyelids acting as windshield wipers, his sight returned. The screams and chaos that had filled the room suddenly hit his ears. He felt his brother pull him close and wrap him in an embrace. Was this real? What was happening here? Finally, his mind snapped back to reality and began to focus in on what was happening. His daughter was dead. His heart, his soul, his life, all gone. He would never again touch her soft skin. He would never stroke her hair, he would never kiss her forehead, and he would never hear her sweet voice say the words “Daddy” again. Though he had been crying as almost an instinctual reaction upon hearing the news, he now understood why and began sobbing harder as he wrapped his arms around his brother and squeezed.

Lisa had collapsed to the floor upon hearing the news. She repeated the word “no” over and over as she cried. Her mother, who was also sobbing uncontrollably, knelt beside her and tried her best to comfort Lisa through her own tears. Lisa's father, a crusty former marine and retired auto mechanic named John Harmon, looked around. Tears ran down his cheeks. He looked at Jim and took several short breaths as if he wanted to say something but was having a hard time getting the words out. Finally, he took a step closer to Jim and said quietly, “I'm sorry, I know this must have been a hard thing for you to do.” The man's chin began to quiver after speaking. As much as he had tried to compose himself he was starting to come undone and so he quickly turned away from everyone and walked down the hall and into the kitchen.