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In the sultry heat of Louisiana, where the bayous whisper
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secrets and the air hangs heavy with the scent of magnolias,
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a darkness lurked beneath the surface. Derrick Todd Lee was
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a man whose charm masked a sinister reality. He was
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a monster. Lee, a seemingly ordinary man with a disarming smile,
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led a double life that would unravel in a series
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of murders in the capital city of Baton Rouge and
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the surrounding areas. As the first reports of disappearances and
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murders began to surface, South Louisiana was thrust into a nightmare,
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igniting a frantic search for answers. The true horror was
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just beginning, and the hunt for a serial killer, eventually
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known by just three letters, would reveal not only the
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depths of Dereck Todd Lee's depravity, but also the resilience
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of those most affected by his evil acts, the families
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and the survivors. This is DTL. Investigators on the Baton
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Rouge Cyrial Task Force were in the throes of their
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investigation when leeds came in that would pull them in
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all different directions. One woman called in a tip that
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she had seen a white work style truck on the
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side of the road right before Danay's body was found.
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Peaking interest was the part where she described a black
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female that appeared to be slumped over in the passenger
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seat of that truck. As the tipster explained, she had
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to pause right next to this white truck to let
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another car pass in front of them, when, to her surprise,
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a black male popped up in the driver's seat and
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startled her. He seemed startled too that someone was next
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to his vehicle, but he gave a kind smile to
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her before she pulled off and went on down the road.
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It wasn't until Dannay's body was found that she put
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two and two together that that may have been her
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slumped over. When she called. She described the man in detail.
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He was a very well groomed man with a fresh haircut,
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almost like that of a young boy. But he was
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in his late thirties to early forties. He had a
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big nose, and he was dark. This was something that
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would be somewhat dismissed, however, because the driver was a
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black male. According to the witness and the FBI said,
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this killer would be White. That said, the task force
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knew that they had a footprint from a shoe believed
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to be worn by the killer. At Dnay's murder site.
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Denay had been slammed into a tree, as evidenced by
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blood pooled under the trunk, and the footprint had been
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pulled from them nearby mud. Whether to release the information
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to the public or not, that was now the main discussion.
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Release it and someone may recognize the shoe, but at
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the same time, the killer may then throw them out,
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which would destroy any chance of linking him that way
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if it was found. It was eventually decided that releasing
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the information would be the best bet, but more would
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happen before that final decision was made. Now DNA had
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confirmed that the same man killed Dnay, Pam Gina, and Murray,
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and this was wild. Race victims isn't the norm for
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serial killers, but here it was on paper and confirmed.
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Just two days before Christmas, everyone would learn that Dnay's
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death was now tied to the case. Everyone was just
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shaking their heads in disbelief. This killer needed to be caught,
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and caught now he should be behind bars. Louisiana has
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the highest per capita incarceration rate in the country, and
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not just poor people and drug dealers either. This list
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included once powerful people had fallen from grace, like former
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Commissioner of Elections in Louisiana Jerry Fowler. So what had
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he done to find himself behind bars? Well, part of
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the commissioner's duties is to purchase voting machines from approved vendors,
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and in short, from nineteen ninety one to nineteen ninety nine,
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Commissioner Fowler conspired with a man named Pascal Ricci and
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a few others to receive kickbacks for purchasing machines from him.
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Basically stated, the state of Louisiana would pay inflated prices
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for the voting machines, counters, and the installation of the counters.
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The vendors would then pay kickbacks to the commissioner, which
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he didn't claim on his income taxes. But as you know,
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he got busted. While his income tax returns showed a
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gross income of around one hundred and sixty thousand dollars annually,
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he was really making more around five hundred and eighty
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thousand dollars annually for those years. Long story short, he
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and his co conspirators were caught and all were sentenced
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to prison. Ultimately, Commissioner Fowler pled guilty to taking nearly
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one million dollars in kickbacks, which his attorney said he
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spent on gambling. The party was now over, though, and
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he would be spending time behind bars, specifically sentenced to
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five years. This was no doubt a very distressing situation
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for his wife's sixty five year old Maryanne Fowler. She
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loved her husband and after he was sent to prison,
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she would remain devoted to him, visiting regularly. As you
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can imagine, most people were finishing up their shopping and
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blissfully spending money as everyone prepared for Christmas, well almost everyone.
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Dnay's family was still in shock and grieving her death,
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having just lay her in the ground, But someone else
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was also struggling through this Christmas holiday as well. And
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most people in their mid sixties are already through the
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season of raising young children. They should be relaxed and
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looking forward to seeing their grandkids open gifts and with
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a much more subdued responsibility for the holidays. But for
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sixty five year old Marian Fowler, visiting her husband in
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federal prison for Christmas wasn't the type of holiday memory
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she had hoped for, but it was what she had
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to work with in order to make this happen. She
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had celebrated Christmas early with her son so she could
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make the long drive to Beaumont, Texas to see her
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husband Jerry on the big day. Fortunately, she had family
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whom she could stay with on Christmas Eve before she
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would complete the drive to the prison. The weather was
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rather gloomy as she prepared to hit the road for
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the adjacent state. She had carefully packed the essentials for
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the trip and was saddened at the thought of seeing
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Jerry without the ability of bringing him a gift. Holidays
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were so much different now than years past. The power
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and privilege enjoyed by his position was obviously now gone,
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but Marianne too had held a position in high power
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in her own right. She was the assistant superintendent of
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Research and Development for the Louisiana Department of Education. To
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say she hadn't been humiliated by the whole scandal would
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be a total lie, but she continued to hold her
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head high and prayed for the day that this would
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all be in the rearview mirror. Until then, she needed
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to get to Texas. Marianne had made the strip enough
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to know that she'd be hungry as she traveled, so
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she swung into a strip mall on Highway four fifteen
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that held a subway sandwich shop where she could get
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a bite to eat. This shop is right across the
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Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, slightly west of Port Allen.
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It was about five thirty pm and not very busy
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considering it was Christmas Eve, so the two ladies working
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in the store were happy to have a customer come in,
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especially one as kind as Mary Anne. She was beautiful too,
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a woman who kept herself up and had that air
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of wealth about her and her fashion choices. Welcome to say,
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The ladies greeted her as she walked in, and the
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bell on the door rang, signaling that someone had entered. Hello.
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She said she matched their energy and friendliness. As she
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approached the counter, she ordered her food and the women
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all struck up pleasant conversation as it was made and
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packaged to go. She paid, and the women exchanged goodbyes
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with the little extra holiday kindness towards each other. As
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Marianne made her way back out of the door and
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towards her car, it was almost closing time, and the
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workers were so ready to get home to their own families.
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They had to complete their closing duties before that could happen, though,
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so they buckled down to get it done. Sanna would
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be coming soon, and everyone had things to do before
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he made it to Louisiana. After the register was counted
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and settled, the bread and veggies stored away, and the
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floor swept, it was time to leave. But the women
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were curious as to why the kind lady who came
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in earlier was still parked outside. Yeah, there was a
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casino nearby, but she wouldn't have left her vehicle at
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the subway if she had plans of going there. Curiosity
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got the better of the women, so they decided to
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go and make sure that mary Anne was okay. But
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as they rounded the vehicle to the driver's side, they
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came upon a site that caused immediate concern. The food
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they had just made, as well as the woman's purse
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was on the ground next to the car, and its
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contents were strown about. The woman. However, she wasn't nowhere
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to be found. What had happened? They noticed a truck
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leaving the scene, a burgundy one, but other than that,
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they hadn't seen anything else. They decided to make a
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call to nine one one, and the police responded. When
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they arrived, they found the food and the purse contents,
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just as the women had described to the dispatcher, but
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the police also found more. Marianne was a well kept woman,
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as I mentioned before. An evidence of her being involved
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in a scuffle of some sort was there in her
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broken and scattered acrylic fingernails on the ground, ripped off
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as she fought an attacker, but robbery didn't seem the
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ultimate goal. The purse was believed to have been strown
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about during the scuffle, but inside her vehicle were present
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and other valuables, not to mention her car itself. Yes,
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Marianne was wearing expensive jewelry, but there was too much
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left behind to make this seem like a robbery. She
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was also sixty five years old. She could have been
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shoved down and everything taken if that was the goal,
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but the only thing missing was mary Anne. Because of this,
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police believed this was an abduction and mari Anne was
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likely in grave danger. But who would want to take
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her and for what reason? As police were busy confirming
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who the missing woman was Just thirty five minutes after
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the crime scene tape was up. A man was passing
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by with no clue as to what had happened. All
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he knew was he was sad that a family would
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be experiencing some sort of tragedy on Christmas. As the
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subway was surrounded by police and flashing lights. I hope
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everyone's okay, he thought, What is wrong with this world?
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That man who saw the police lights and shook his
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head as he drove home was none other than Marianne's
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own son, and he would soon learn that his family
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would be that family experiencing tragedy this Christmas. Police knew
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time was of the essence as they looked for any
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other possible leads to Marianne's abduction when they noticed surveillance
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cameras on the buildings nearby. There was a discount cigarette store,
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and their camera was unfortunately a very grainy one. It
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also scanned back and forth, which meant it didn't stay
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put in one location. Every fifty five seconds the camera
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would complete a scan of the parking lot. The view
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of the camera also had a hindrance of sorts, in
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that the awning of the building obscured the camera's view
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at certain points. What police were able to see were
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the last moments Marianne was seen alive, but only partially.
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The movement of the camera would capture Marianne walking to
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the parking lot and approaching her car. At that moment,
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only the lower half of a man would appear to
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approach her from behind, but it was obvious he was
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grabbing her in some way because the camera caught her
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dropping her food and struggling, But then it panned away.
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Fifty five seconds later, it was back at Marianne's car,
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but by this point all that could be seen was
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the man from the chest down getting into a burgundy
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truck and driving away on Highway four fifteen until he
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was out of sight. Police were right this was an abduction,
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but the abductor's identification was just out of view that truck,
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though that would remain a lead. An additional lead was
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that tire tracks believed to be from the burgundy truck
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were located in the dirt and the mud on the
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way out of the parking lot. Other than these leads,
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there wasn't much else to go off of. Theories would
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swirl as to who abducted Marianne Fowler that night. Had
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her husband done dealings with the wrong people and they
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took her as revenge or leverage. Was she abducted by
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chance and a robbery gone wrong. The rumors were swirling,
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but the general consensus was that the Baton Rouge serial
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killer had likely struck again. After all, the FBI behavioral
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analyst said he would be taking larger risks, but this
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was to be caught. This was to keep the thrill,
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to keep his excitement alive. He had killed so much
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now that even murder was just too easy. Each time
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he killed, he would have to go a little further
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to get the same rush. Just like a drug addict
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who needs more and more to keep the high going,
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so does a man addicted to murder. When words spread
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that it was Marianne that had been abducted, her family
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was crushed. With such little information to go on, they
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felt like they were at the mercy of investigators who
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were doing everything they could to find her. As the
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days passed, Derek Todd Lee enjoyed Christmas with his family.
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He ate supper with his kids, and enjoyed time with
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his friends. All the while Marianne's family was desperate to
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find her. Her husband's attorneys even requested a furlough from
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prison so he could assist in the search for his wife,
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but that would never happen. He would sit in prison