Caught
in the Web was a 4 Part series by
CAUGHT IN THE WEB FIRST OF FOUR PARTS : Evil at the door
BY CATHY FRYE ©2003,
He could see his 13-year-old prey framed in the
living-room windows — cozy in her favorite nightclothes and typing
speedily at the family computer on this rainy, 39-degree December night.
As usual, Kacie Woody had switched on all the lights as she walked
from room to room, and the small house now glowed against a backdrop of
towering trees.
He stepped closer. Kacie was there for the taking — typing,
distracted, her silhouette melding with that of the computer monitor before
her.
She was right there, only a stretch of dark and the front door
between them, and she had no idea he had come for her.
Meanwhile, police officer Rick Woody — Kacie’s dad
— was on patrol in nearby Greenbrier, cruising the swath of U.S. 65 that
cuts through this central Arkansas town. The traffic was mostly 18-wheelers,
headed either north toward
Like most nights in Greenbrier, population 3,042, this one had
been uneventful. Rick, suffering from a sinus infection, almost had called in
sick. The night was cold and rainy, and his chief had told him to take it easy.
Rick still felt poorly, but he figured he could make it through his shift,
which would end at 2 a.m.
Rick liked policing the sleeping town. He made few arrests, but
that was OK. His idea of good law enforcement was to prevent bad things, not to
step in after the crime. That’s why he watched out for the young women
making nightly bank deposits after Greenbrier’s stores and restaurants
closed. They often neglected to call for an escort, so Rick would just show up
when they were due to leave work.
While on duty, Rick kept his cell phone close so he could check
frequently on Kacie. He never really worried, though. Kacie had grown up
motherless and had assumed much responsibility at home. She laundered her own
clothes, cooked dinner for herself and did her homework without being told. If
there were an emergency, Rick could get from Greenbrier to the house in 15
minutes.
Kacie didn’t mind her dad’s late hours. She had always
lived in the little gray house on
Most nights, Kacie didn’t even lock the front door.
One of her older brothers, Tim, 19, still lived at home and was
usually there with Kacie at night. Tim’s friend, Eric Betts, also 19, had
taken up temporary residence at the Woody house. So he, too, was in and out. If
the guys weren’t around, there was always her Aunt Teresa, who also lived
on
But on this bone-chilling evening of Dec. 3, 2002, a Tuesday, Tim
had left for the
Kacie was home alone.
EARLIER THAT DAY
For Kacie and her circle of seventh-grade friends at
The girls all normally agreed on pretty much everything —
which guys were hot, which girls were popular and, of course, the belief that
"school sucks." The group convened each morning before walking to
class arm in arm. A sense of security pervaded these locker-lined hallways,
where blue-and-white panthers prowled and pounced across cinder-block walls.
Kacie’s social path at school was neatly paved. She had
attended Greenbrier schools since kindergarten, and her sunny nature attracted
new friends each year. She also was the younger sister of two former football
stars.
Her days were plagued by little more than the usual teenage
worries — weight gain, grades and guys.
Like her friends, Kacie was experimenting with eye shadow as well
as boyfriends. But learning to put on makeup proved to be much easier than
mastering the intricacies of teenage courtship.
In an e-mail sent to a male Greenbrier friend that autumn, she had
confided: My longest relantionship was... i think 3 months. I am usually the
one that gets dumped... I have really bad luck with guys. Dude I am like sooo
totally confused about guys right now!! ARGH! Sometimes guys really bad suck ya
know? It’s like... idk... weird... lol... well I am gunna jet bc i
don’t have nething to say...
Samantha, a self-assured, outspoken blonde, could relate to
Kacie’s frustration. What Sam couldn’t understand was her
friend’s fascination with the boys she met on the Internet. So far, Kacie
had found love twice online. Both of these relationships bothered Sam. She
worried about how freely Kacie was giving out her phone number to strangers.
Several times, she had warned Kacie: "You can’t be in love with
someone from the Internet."
The girls’ long-running disagreement peaked Dec. 3. It
stemmed from a comment Sam had made the day before about a photo of Scott,
Kacie’s mostrecent online boyfriend. The picture, which hung in
Kacie’s locker, was of a young, dark-haired guy in a football uniform.
Sam had said he was "hot." Kacie thought she said "fat."
They had exchanged barbs, and by the following morning, the girls’ mutual
friends had taken sides.
Sam decided it was time to involve an adult.
For moral support, she took a friend with her to Room 214, where
school counselor Dianna Kellar spends her days treading delicately through
seventh grade’s hormonal minefields.
With her maternal demeanor and lavish use of endearments, Mrs.
Kellar, a middle-aged woman with salt-and-pepper hair, is a comforting presence
in this small world of constant melodrama. She handled Sam and Kacie’s
fight as deftly as any other.
After hearing Sam out, the counselor summoned Kacie to the office
and let the girls muddle through their grievances by themselves. By the time
Mrs. Kellar reappeared, Sam and Kacie had patched up their friendship.
But Sam feared the truce would be short-lived. Kacie didn’t
know it, but Sam had told Mrs. Kellar that Kacie was giving out her phone
number online. Mrs. Kellar had promised to talk to Kacie again, and Sam
wasn’t sure how her friend would react.
As the girls left that morning, Mrs. Kellar asked Kacie about the
matter. Kacie assured the counselor she had shared her number only with people
approved by her dad. But Sam knew this wasn’t true.
During fifth period, Mrs. Kellar called Kacie back into her office
and warned her about dangers online, but Kacie clearly had no fear of anyone
she had met on the Internet.
In the months to come, Mrs. Kellar would wonder: What else should
I have asked?
When Sam and Kacie met after school, Kacie was her usual bubbly
self. But she made an unusual suggestion that later would cause her friends to
wonder if she had sensed the horror to come.
As the girls prepared to leave, Kacie asked if she could spend the
night at Sam’s house. Sam, knowing her mom would frown on a school-night
sleepover, said no.
Kacie also asked
Kacie persisted, asking a third friend, but received the same
answer.
Kacie didn’t explain why she wanted to sleep elsewhere that
night. She just didn’t want to go home.
The refusals didn’t upset her. She laughed — that
goofy, honking guffaw for which she was known — and headed to where her
bus waited, its engine thrumming. Before boarding, she hugged all of her
friends.
"Bye!" she called out. "See ya!"
A FINAL CHAT
Kacie spent the evening watching the weather, fervently hoping that the
predicted sleet and snow might give her a day off from school.
She showered and put on what she always wore to bed — a
favorite pair of blue sweat pants sporting the endearment "Baby Girl"
and a gray sweatshirt. Then she returned to the computer, which sat in front of
one of the two rectangular windows overlooking the Woodys’ front yard.
Awaiting Kacie was an instant message from Scott, who was writing
from his home in an affluent suburb of
Kacie loved instant messages, which, unlike e-mail, pop up on the
screen as soon as they are written. Conversations are in real time.
Kacie had met Scott in a chat room in May 2002. He described
himself as a 14-year-old boy living in
Kacie and Scott had officially become boyfriend and girlfriend on
Oct. 3, 2002. Scott’s online moniker was Tazz2999. Kacie’s was
modelbehavior63. Their rapid-fire conversation made abbreviations a necessity
and misspellings inevitable : Tazz2999: Hey Sweetie modelbehavior63: hey
Tazz2999: how are you my angel ?
modelbehavior63: ok... u Tazz2999: better now that ur on sweetie
And they were off, fingers flying across keyboards as they bemoaned troublesome
classes like math and Arkansas history, and analyzed Kacie and Sam’s
reconciliation. They also discussed Kacie’s two favorite extracurricular
activities:
modelbehavior63: GUESS WHAT... GUESS WHAt... GUESS WHAT
Tazz2999: WHAT hehe
modelbehavior63: 23 kids outta 130 were picked to sing in frontof
the school board and I AM ONE OF THEM... ooo adn wednesday i have band practice
and thursday i have choir practice
Tazz2999: Thats excenlant baby I told you You have the most
beutiful voice I have ever hears
Tazz2999: *heard*
modelbehavior63:
As she instant-messaged Scott, Kacie was on the phone with another
Internet friend named Dave.
Dave was upset. His aunt, in a coma since a car wreck, was about
to die. Kacie hurt for him. Her mother, Kristie, had died in an accident when
Kacie was only 7. Kacie was certain her beloved mama was now a beautiful angel,
looking out for her from above. Still, heaven was so far away.
Kacie had met Dave sometime during the summer of 2002 in a Yahoo
Christian chat room for teens. From the start, their friendship was full of
romantic overtones, and even after Scott became her new "official"
boyfriend, Kacie had continued her online friendship with Dave.
Scott knew all about Dave. Kacie had introduced them online. The
two had even talked on the phone a few times, mostly about cars.
In his Yahoo profile, Dave described himself as an 18-yearold
living in
As Kacie consoled Dave on the phone, she kept Scott abreast of the
grim situation:
modelbehavior63: tonight... Dave’s aunt is going to meet my
mommy Tazz2999: Im so so sorry baby... atleast we know that she will be happy
there with your mommy... I am sure she will look out for her...
modelbehavior63: yeah... i think they will be best friend... hehe Tazz2999: ...
I hope Dave is alright modelbehavior63: he is... i am on the phone... he has
been laughing at me... bc he know it is the best... Tazz2999: at least he is
laughing Kacie told Scott about her visit to the counselor’s office:
modelbehavior63: so guess what i got... a lecture Tazz2999: awww im sorry baby
modelbehavior63: ... on how u could be a 80 year old rapest... lol Tazz2999:
lol modelbehavior63: hehe... and that the picture was ur grandson Tazz2999: how
many times have u gotten that 1 hehe modelbehavior63: um... i lost count...
well... then... she is like... "do ur parents know u talk to ppl u dont
know" i was like "yeah" and she was like... well be careful...
and dont agree to meet them less ur mom or dad is with you" i was
like..okay... and she is like... well remember this lil talk... i was like...
ok... Tazz2999: uh oh. prolly means she is going to talk to u again...
modelbehavior63: i kno The young couple moved on to more pleasant topics, like
the fact that this day marked their two-month anniversary: Tazz2999: I will
always be your teddy graham and you will always be my angel and we will be
together forever and always and longer modelbehavior63: awww Tazz2999: hehe
what r u doing sweetie modelbehavior63: eating and talking to dave and
singing... Dave and i were crying together for a sec... i told him i loved
him... and momma told me she did too... and that mommy talks to me... and that
she said she would take care of his aunt
‘R U OK?’
Kacie sent Scott a link to a weather Web site.
modelbehavior63: look at what it feels like outside!! Tazz2999:
awwww *holds her tight and rubs her arms to keep her warm*
Meanwhile, outside in the chilly darkness, someone crept across
the Woodys’ front yard — someone who had come for Kacie.
He had driven to the
The house, illuminated by interior lamps and a single porch light,
stood out in sharp relief against the blackness. Inside, Kacie still sat at the
computer, reading Scott’s fumbling attempts to wax poetic:
Tazz2999: hehe ill always be with u my angel becouse ur all I want
to be with Tazz2999: hehe i put my screen saver as the picture i have in my
locker Tazz2999: ur the most beutiful angel in the world Kacie Tazz2999: r u ok
sweetie?
When Kacie finally responded, her message was uncharacteristically
brief: modelbehavior63: yah It was 9:41 p.m.
Maybe the intruder knocked. Or maybe he just walked in.
Either way, he caught Kacie completely off-guard, covering her
face with a chloroformsoaked rag and knocking her glasses onto her dad’s
recliner. He dragged the thrashing girl through the living room and hauled her
out into the cold darkness, across the damp ground and into the waiting minivan.
Throughout the violent struggle, Scott’s loving entreaties
continued to pop up on the Woodys’ computer screen: Tazz2999: r u busy
baby?
Tazz2999: ... hehe guess so... Tazz2999: u there baby?
Tazz2999: sweetie r u ok... Tazz2999: please talk to me baby...
Tazz2999: Tazz2999: when u r ready to talk sweetie ill be here... Tazz2999: r u
mad at me sweetie?
Tazz2999: please talk to me baby... Tazz2999: r u ok sweetie No
response. For the next 35 minutes, Scott filled the Woodys’ monitor with increasingly
frantic pleas: Tazz2999: please GOD let her be ok Tazz2999: Kacie please tlak
to me Tazz2999: please... please... Still, no answer. Scott kept trying.
Tazz2999: Kacie Im so so scared I dont know what to do.
Tazz2999: ... please... Say something At 10:15 p.m., Scott called
the Woody house.
Tazz2999: why isnt anyone answering the PHONE!
Tazz2999: UGH Tazz2999: Please Tazz2999: PLEASE PICK UP KACIE
Tazz2999: PLEASE Tazz2999: GOD PLEASE LET HER PICK UP Tazz2999: please be ok
Kacie... GOD let her bo ok Scott e-mailed Kacie’s friend Jessica: Jessica
please let this be u something is wrong with kacie her s/n is still on and she
all the sudden left during our convo but didn’t log off and i tried to
call her and no one answered and we weren’t fighting or anything so i
e-mail the cops to make sure she is alright i hop they get it soon...I’m
going crazy I don’t know what I would do without her please God let her
be ok
But it was 10:44 p.m. on a school night, and Jessica
wouldn’t find the e-mail until the next afternoon.
Frustrated, Scott went back to instant-messaging the Woodys’
computer:
Tazz2999: ERIC TIM DADDY DANNY ANYONE PLEASE BE THERE TO HELP HER
PLEASE I KNOW SOMETHING ISNT RIGHT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
AT THE WOODY HOME
When family friend Eric Betts returned home from his electrician’s class
at 10:17 p.m., he assumed Kacie was already in bed. For more than an hour, he
watched television, getting up periodically to do his laundry.
At 11:30 p.m., during one of his trips to the utility room, Eric
noticed that Kacie wasn’t in her room. He assumed she was out with
friends or family.
Minutes later, Kacie’s brother Tim arrived home.
"Where’s Kacie?" Eric asked.
"I thought she was here," Tim replied. Concerned, he
called his dad. The time was 11:40 p.m.
"Where’s Kacie?" Tim asked.
"At home," Rick replied.
"No, she isn’t," Tim said.
Rick had last talked to Kacie at 7 p.m. She had been practicing
her saxophone.
Rick told Tim to call Kacie’s friends. He also told him to
check with Aunt Teresa next door. Meanwhile, Rick drove to the Greenbrier
Police Department. When he arrived, he called Tim again.
"Nobody knows anything," Tim told him.
Rick notified the
When Rick arrived, he noticed that both of Kacie’s coats
— a brand-new yellow one and her band jacket — were draped over a
chair in the kitchen. Her tennis shoes and boots lay by the computer, where she
always kicked them off.
At the time Kacie disappeared, the temperature had been 39 degrees
and dropping. Heavy rains were moving through the area.
At 12:24 a.m., Deputy Dalton Elliott arrived at the Woody home.
After looking around, he asked sheriff’s investigator Jim Wooley to join
him at the scene. Elliott also notified area law enforcement agencies that a
girl was missing.
Meanwhile, phones rang all over Greenbrier as Rick, Tim and Eric
quizzed Kacie’s friends.
"Is Kacie at your house?" Rick asked Sam when a family
member brought the phone to her at 1:11 a.m.
"No," a still-groggy Sam said. "Why?"
By the time Sam hung up, she was fully awake. "Pray for
Kacie," she told her mom. "She’s missing." Sam sat up the
rest of the night, telephone in hand, repeatedly calling Kacie’s house.
By now, Rick and the boys had noticed a phone call from
They made another discovery as well — a long dialogue on the
computer between modelbehavior63 and Tazz2999.
AT SCOTT’S HOUSE
Scott checked his computer frequently. Every so often, he fell into a troubled
slumber. Finally, five hours after the last message from Kacie, Scott’s
computer monitor flickered to life: modelbehavior63: hey scott ru there this is
eric modelbehavior63: as soon as u get this ANSWER back PLEASE i have GOT TO
TALK TO YA Tazz2999: im on... modelbehavior63: what happened with u and kacie
tonight... did she just quit talkin... Tazz2999: yeah... just went silent
modelbehavior63: did any thing seem like something was wrong?
Tazz2999: nope not at all modelbehavior63: what was the last time
that u talked to her... i need as close as a time as possible Tazz2999: 9:41
was her last message... modelbehavior63: ok... did she say anything out of the
ordinary Tazz2999: no just quiet I can send you aour whole convo if u like
modelbehavior63: no i already got it i just need to know if she has seemed like
something has been bothering her or if she needed to talk to someone
Eric confirmed Scott’s phone number. He also asked him for
his full name, age and address.
modelbehavior63: what was she saying bout the school consoler and
this guy dave? anything wrong with her
Tazz2999: well umm her ans Sam have been having a fight and they
talked abot it with the consoler then Sam told the consoler that she was dating
me and she got lectured... dont worry about Dave he is just a good friend I
would have said something if i didnt htink he was a good guy but he is cool
modelbehavior63: so has it just been tonight that she seemed
quiet? ... and did she talk about goin some where or with someone ?
Tazz2999: Eric... can u tell me the [truth] now... where is Kacie
modelbehavior63: just tell me... i got to know it is VERY
important
Tazz2999: ummm... i dont think so... not tonight... but she was on
the phone...
modelbehavior63: do u know with who?
Tazz2999: Dave
Scott told Eric he didn’t know when Dave and Kacie had ended
their phone conversation. Nor did he know Dave’s last name, only that he
lived in
modelbehavior63: i am going to get off of here but i will leave it
connected just in case... thanks so much for the help Tazz2999: anytime but can
answer sumthing 4 me modelbehavior63: whats that?
Tazz2999: what happen to Kacie... Coming Monday: A frantic
search for Kacie Woody.
This story
was published Sunday, December 14, 2003
Part II
Entryway to danger
Kacie Woody’s home becomes a crime scene and her online life a clue for
detectives investigating her disappearance.
BY CATHY FRYE ©2003, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , INC. PHOTOS BY KAREN E.
SEGRAVE
Something bad had happened in this living room.
State police investigator Karl Byrd knew it as soon as he saw
13-year-old Kacie Woody’s mangled eyeglasses, which lay beneath a pile of
towels in a tan recliner. The frames were bent and one lens had popped out.
Kacie had been missing for six hours now.
It was 3:35 a.m. Dec. 4, 2002, a half-hour since the persistent
ring of Byrd’s telephone had jarred him from a deep slumber. The caller
had been Jim Wooley, a
"Karl, I’ve got a girl out here missing," Wooley
had said in worried tones. "I’m not sure what to make of it, but I
don’t like the way it looks."
Byrd had hastily donned his clothes and driven to the rural
The misshapen eyeglasses confirmed his suspicions: Kacie
hadn’t left this house willingly.
Kacie’s dad, Greenbrier police officer Rick Woody, told
investigators that nothing was missing except his daughter’s nightclothes.
Both of her coats were in the kitchen. Her shoes lay in a pile near the
family’s computer in the living room. Kacie’s beloved Yorkshire
terrier, George, was limping.
The last person to have seen Kacie was her brother Tim, who had
left the house at 6 p.m. for the
Dialogue still on the monitor revealed to the investigators that
Kacie had been exchanging instant messages with someone named Scott, who
appeared to be a 14-year-old living in a suburb of
Kacie’s messages ended abruptly at 9:41 p.m., in
midconversation with Scott, further convincing Byrd and Wooley that she had
been kidnapped.
As other lawmen throughout the county were roused from their beds,
Byrd and Wooley went door to door on
At 5:14 a.m., investigators issued a Level II Morgan Nick Alert,
which allows state police to notify the media of a missing child.
DEC. 4
For Samantha Mann, 13, the bus ride to school was unbearable. Her friend Kacie
was missing, yet everyone was acting so... normal.
But most
Sam, who knew better, sat numbly in her seat, unsure whether to
say anything.
"Kacie Woody’s been kidnapped," one of the girls
said.
"Y’all are lying," Jessica declared, and burst
into tears.
Jessica’s teacher sent her to the counselor’s office.
As soon as she walked in, Jessica encountered two other distraught friends, who
clung to her and sobbed.
Moments later, Sam rounded the corner.
She made a beeline for Jessica, and the two girls locked in an
embrace of grief and disbelief.
At 9:20 a.m., Sam sat in school counselor Dianna Kellar’s
office, trying to answer the questions of investigators Byrd and Wooley.
She had been here just the day before to tell Mrs. Kellar she was
worried about how freely Kacie gave her phone number to people she met on the
Internet.
Now Sam was here to talk about Kacie again, this time to
policemen.
LOVE ONLINE
The Woodys live so far out in the country that phone calls to Greenbrier, 12
miles to the northwest, are long-distance. So Rick laid down strict rules about
using the phone.
Kacie turned to the computer, discovering quickly that
instant-messaging was almost as good as talking on the phone. Unlike e-mail,
instant messages pop up immediately on the screen, allowing conversations to be
held in real time.
Kacie’s screen name was modelbehavior63, inspired by Model
Behavior, one of her favorite Disney movies. The 63 came from older brother
Austin’s football jersey.
For a while, Kacie was content with her network of local friends.
But like many teens, she couldn’t resist the lure of chat rooms and
ventured into these online social hubs. By autumn 2002, modelbehavior63 had
become a regular presence in Yahoo’s teen and Christian chat rooms.
Kacie’s Yahoo profile, which included a photo of her, was
there for anyone who wanted to learn more about her.
She last updated her profile in November 2002:
Real name:
Kacie
Location:
Age:
blank
Marital Status: Long-term relationship Gender:
Female
Occupation:
Messenger of God
More About Me:
(Hobbies): I write love poems, play alto sax, am in the school choir and
recently tried out for soccer. I’m 13 now.
Latest News:
October 3rd I started going out with Scott. The sweetest, cutest, smartest,
funniest, sexiest guy ever. I love him with all my heart.
Favorite quote:
"They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places. To guide us
with their mercy, in our time of need. Oh I believe there are angels among us,
sent down to us from somewhere up above. They come — "
Kacie first bumped into Dave in a Yahoo chat room for Christian
teens during the summer of 2002. They struck up a friendship and began instant-messaging
each other regularly. Kacie brought Dave into her group of online friends. She
introduced him to her "real life" friends as well, setting up
three-way phone calls and sending him photos of her schoolmates.
Kacie and Dave’s shared love of music likely helped draw
them together. Dave played guitar. Kacie loved to sing and play her sax. Both
were Elvis fans.
Dave’s profile was sparse:
Real name:
Dave
Location:
Age:
18
Marital Status: Long-term relationship Gender:
Male The accompanying photo showed a blondish, long-haired guy, sort of a
younger version of the model Fabio. Kacie thought Dave was cute, but her
friends didn’t like his long hair.
Kacie briefly considered Dave her boyfriend but became interested
in a local boy in early autumn. She later broke up with this boy for Scott,
whom she had met online in May 2002. Kacie and Scott became an official item on
Oct. 3, 2002.
In Scott, Kacie found someone proficient in all the intrigue and
drama of adolescent puppy love. Scott’s profile identified him as a
Sam disapproved. She had never liked Dave. And Scott didn’t
strike her as much of an improvement. His mushy prose struck her as excessive.
Sam warned Kacie several times about "dating" people she
had never met in person. How, she asked, could Kacie be sure of someone’s
true identity?
Kacie was so trusting that it worried Sam.
Another Greenbrier friend expressed similar doubts after Kacie
e-mailed him an excerpt of an instant message from Scott.
Hey Sweetie, Scott had written. I miss you so much... I have
barely talked to you all day. I Hope Your doing ok sweetie... I Love You so
much...
Her Greenbrier friend replied bluntly: do u believe all that stuff
that dude is saying? How long have u known him?
Kacie responded: i actually do believe him... i have known him for
over 6 months... Even after Kacie fell for Scott, she maintained her friendship
with Dave, who didn’t seem to mind Kacie’s new boyfriend. Twice,
Dave even talked to Scott on the phone.
The first time, Scott’s mom answered.
"Who’s calling from
The second time Dave called, Scott’s dad answered.
"You’re not a kid," the irate father declared. He
told Dave not to call back.
Rick Woody had a similar reaction when Kacie told him that her
online friend Dave was celebrating his 18th birthday.
"Eighteen is too old," Rick said, ordering Kacie to
cease her correspondence with Dave. Rick didn’t catch a name at the time
— he was more concerned about the unknown boy’s age.
Kacie obeyed. "My dad said I can’t talk to you anymore
because you’re too old for me," she wrote to Dave.
So Dave switched from the computer to the telephone, calling Kacie
frequently and talking about his dying aunt. Kacie also phoned Dave, but would
quickly hang up. Then Dave would call back.
The phone calls made Sam even more uncomfortable with Dave. For
one thing, Dave didn’t sound 18. He used outdated words of a different
generation — "groovy" and "righteous" and
"wicked."
Kacie once told him: "You people out in
Sam would later put it this way: "I was like, okaaaaay. He
needed to get a teen slang book or something because no one says wicked or
groovy. It was like my dad trying to act cool but actually sounding really
retarded."
But Kacie always expected the best of people.
On two occasions, Kacie set up three-way phone conversations so
that she could talk to Dave and Sam at the same time.
Dave described trips to the beach and how he loved fourwheeling.
Mostly, though, he listened to Sam and Kacie talk.
At one point, he interjected.
"How old are you?" he asked Sam.
"Thirteen," Sam said.
"Oh... cool," Dave replied.
Jessica had talked to Dave, too, one weekend night shortly before
Kacie’s abduction.
Jessica was at the Woody home, feeling ill after a Dr Pepper
burping contest. Kacie was on the phone with Dave.
"Here," Kacie said, handing the receiver to Jessica.
"Talk to him. He’ll make you feel better."
During the conversation, the girls heard noises outside, maybe
someone walking around the back of the house, his feet crunching the leaves and
sticks. Hastily, they shoved a dresser in front of Kacie’s bedroom door.
Minutes later, they were certain they heard the kitchen floor squeak.
"I’m scared there’s somebody in my house,"
Kacie told Dave.
"Oh, there’s nobody in your house," he replied.
"You’re just imagining things."
And then the noises stopped.
SHY AND TRUSTING
Kacie was born Oct. 17, 1989. She almost died from lung complications.
Rick and Kristie Woody named their baby after K.C. Koloski, a
character on the television series
Kacie was quiet around people she didn’t know. But at home
or around friends, she loved to perform. Whenever she visited friends for
sleepovers, she took her worn video of the musical Grease and would sing along
with every song as she subjected her friends to repeated viewings.
Parents saw Kacie as a "model child," as one mother put
it, a good friend for their own children. She possessed an empathy beyond her
years, impressing her counselor, Mrs. Kellar, as the only student willing to
befriend a lonely schoolmate.
In the years after Kacie’s mom died, Kacie fretted over her
dad, believing that he was lonely. Many times she climbed into his lap, asking
anxiously, "Are you OK?"
Kacie was always in search of a mother figure. She latched on to
one of Tim’s girlfriends, Carlee Hensley, who frequently took Kacie
shopping. Carlee once spent a whole day trying to find someone who would pierce
Kacie’s ears without a guardian present.
The kindness that Carlee and other women showed Kacie made her far
more trusting than most kids. People had always been good to her. She
couldn’t imagine anyone wishing her harm.
The Woodys moved from the
Their new homeplace served another purpose. Kristie and her
mother, Illa Smith, loved horses, and this place was perfect for keeping them.
The women each owned several horses, and they spent countless
hours grooming, riding and showing their prized animals. One Christmas, Illa
made Kristie and Kacie matching Western outfits and took a picture of the pair,
with Kacie posed on a toy horse.
In a strange twist, though, horses led to tragedy.
On June 19, 1997, Rick, Kristie, Tim and Kacie were on their way
home from Tim’s baseball game when two horses ran on- to
Rick hit one of the horses, which slammed through the windshield
on the passenger’s side. After the car shuddered to a stop, Rick looked
at his wife.
And he knew.
He couldn’t let Kacie see her mother, not like this. But
with his ribs broken, and shattered glass littering the car’s interior,
Rick couldn’t reach his daughter. He turned to Tim, who sat in the back
seat with his little sister.
"Get Kacie on the floorboard," he instructed his son.
"I can’t," Tim answered helplessly.
"There’s glass."
At that moment, some family friends pulled up behind the
Woodys’ car. They ushered Tim and Kacie into their own vehicle, where the
kids waited until help arrived. Kacie had been sleeping before the accident, so
Rick was hopeful she hadn’t seen her mother.
But she had. Kacie later told her Aunt Teresa about it, how her
mom made an "uh" noise and that when she saw all the blood, she knew
that her mother was dead.
From that night on, Kacie hated horses.
Even so, she kept her mother’s collection of horse
figurines. They filled an entire shelf in Kacie’s bedroom.
On June 27, 2001, Rick went on part-time patrol for the Greenbrier
Police Department. He was elated.
Rick had been working for the department as a dispatcher, a job that
evolved from serving as a computer and security contractor for the agency. Rick
liked dispatching, but he had longed to be on the streets.
The only drawback was the hours. Rick typically worked the night
shifts, which could pose problems for a single dad. Normally, Tim was around.
And on weekends, Kacie always went to her grandma’s house, where she ate
Chinese food and pizza, and chased yellow butterflies across the lawn.
Still, there were some evenings when Kacie was home alone for
several hours. Rick believed she was safe though. He had lived on
Never had this policeman imagined that a kidnapper would pull
right up to his doorstep.
DEC. 4, MIDMORNING
After Jessica’s interview with the investigators in the school
counselor’s office, she and Sam compared notes. Both girls were certain
Scott was behind Kacie’s disappearance. He was all Kacie talked about
lately, and after the previous day’s fight, Scott was fresh in their
minds.
Sam and Jessica sat in silence for a moment, lost in their
thoughts. Something niggled at the edges of Jessica’s consciousness,
something she should have told the lawmen. She flipped through her memories of
Kacie, mulling the events of recent months. Then the nebulous cloud of
recollections crystallized.
She turned to her friend in a moment of horrifying clarity.
"Omigod, Sam — what about Dave?" At this same moment,
FBI agent Jerry Spurgers was in Kacie’s bedroom, wondering the same
thing.
Coming Tuesday:
Police close in.
Part III
CAUGHT IN THE WEB THIRD OF FOUR PARTS : Running out of time
Law enforcement agents work to track down Kacie Woody and learn the identity of
her abductor.
BY CATHY FRYE ©2003, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , INC.
FBI agent Jerry
Spurgers knelt on the floor of 13-year-old Kacie Woody’s bedroom, holding
two crumpled pieces of paper that might reveal the identity of Kacie’s
kidnapper.
Kacie had been missing for 12 hours now, snatched from her living
room as she typed at the computer, and the lawmen investigating her
disappearance desperately needed leads.
Surrounded by the stuffed animals lining the teenager’s top
bunk, the hundreds of Beanie Babies perched on shelves and the angels scattered
here and there, Spurgers carefully smoothed the creases from the scraps of
paper he had just pulled from Kacie’s trash can.
One read: Kacie Rene Woody Loves David Leslie Fagen The other
declared: Kacie Rene Woody Loves Scott G — The letters had all been
numbered so that Kacie could compute the percentage of "true love" in
each relationship.
But for Spurgers, the wadded-up papers held other significance.
When Kacie was abducted on Dec. 3, 2002, she had been exchanging
instant messages with her online boyfriend Scott, 14, who lived in Alpharetta,
an upscale suburb of
At 9:41 p.m., Kacie had abruptly quit responding to Scott’s
messages, and Scott had quickly become concerned. He had called the
Woodys’ home in rural
Dave, on the other hand, hadn’t been heard from. Authorities
had no idea who he was, only that he was supposedly an 18-year-old from
As Spurgers examined the doodlings of a love-struck girl, he
realized that Dave and David Fagen were quite possibly the same person.
The Woodys’ computer soon yielded confirmation. Stored on
the machine were a Yahoo profile and photo of someone named jazzman_df. FBI
agents also found earlier correspondence between jazzman_df and Kacie.
Jazzman_df lived in
Meanwhile, Samantha Mann, 13, and
Sam and Jessica had initially blamed Scott for Kacie’s
abduction. Now, however, they realized they had forgotten to tell the
detectives about Dave.
The girls told Mrs. Kellar they needed to talk to the police
again.
As they waited, Sam and Jessica hastily composed a note for the
cops: Dave has been tellin Kacie that his aunt is in a coma and he has been
driving 4 dayz. Dave is Kacie’s X boyfriend For the past month, Dave had
kept Kacie updated on his aunt’s condition. Her coma, he said, was caused
by a car wreck. She wasn’t expected to live much longer.
The aunt lived in
Kacie had told her friends about Dave’s aunt. She felt
really sorry for him. And then, one night in mid- to late November, when
Jessica was sleeping over at Kacie’s house, Dave had called to say he was
on his way to
During the hourlong conversation, Dave had told Kacie and Jessica
that he planned to remain in
Several times, Jessica and Kacie tried to end the conversation.
But Dave told them he had been driving for 11 hours and needed the company.
Sam also had heard that Dave was heading to
A few weeks before her abduction, Kacie had turned to Sam one day
and asked, "Remember Dave?"
"Yeah," Sam had said.
"Well, he said he was going to be in
Dave never said anything about wanting to see Kacie during his
visit. Even if he had, Sam and Jessica were certain Kacie never would have
agreed to meet him in person.
But what if he had decided to show up unannounced at Kacie’s
house?
RACE AGAINST TIME
At 1 p.m., a fourth law enforcement agency joined the
Investigators were looking for someone registered as David Fagen.
Or anyone with the first name David. Or the initials D.F. Or anyone from
About 30 minutes later, the detectives on the north side called to
say there was a David Fuller from
Fuller had arrived Dec. 2 and was scheduled to stay for seven
days.
He had requested that the maids skip his room.
Barrett headed to the motel.
The manager there vividly remembered Fuller, who had become angry
when he couldn’t connect to the Internet from his room and huffed off to
the county library with his laptop.
The detective walked over to Room 115, where a 1993 Buick Regal
with
A cursory search revealed a suitcase, still neatly packed, on the
luggage rack. A laptop was set up on the table, and two 3 1/2-inch floppy disks
lay on the floor. The bed hadn’t been slept in.
Barrett put a surveillance team in the room next door in case
Fuller returned.
It was now 1:30 p.m.
Barrett asked another detective to check with car rental
businesses. Had Fuller, perhaps, rented a car? Just 10 minutes later, the
detective called back: On Dec. 2, Fuller had rented a silver Dodge Caravan for
seven days from the Conway Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
At the rental agency, Barrett interviewed an employee named Steve
Tate.
Fuller, Tate said, had behaved strangely while filling out his
paperwork. The Californian had been fidgety, repeatedly interrupting the
process to go outside and smoke.
So Tate had made a note of Fuller’s
At 2:45 p.m., state police investigator Karl Byrd and a few other
detectives were eating a quick lunch at the Conway International House of
Pancakes when Barrett called with David Fuller’s phone number.
Byrd then phoned his supervisor, Sgt. Paul Curtis, who had
subpoenaed the Woodys’ phone records.
"Give me the number she’s been calling," Byrd
said.
Curtis read it aloud.
The number had been dialed repeatedly from the Woody home. And it
matched the one Fuller had given the car rental agent.
Byrd called Barrett: "That’s our boy."
A description of Fuller’s rented minivan immediately went
out to law enforcement agencies and the media.
Wherever it was, Kacie might be there, too.
DAVE VS. DAVID FULLER
As investigators delved into Fuller’s background, they learned
"Dave" wasn’t the long-haired, handsome youth pictured on his
Yahoo profile. David Leslie Fuller was 47, balding and scrawny. And his life
was falling apart.
Fuller was born Jan. 18, 1955, into a devout Mormon family. His
parents, Ned and June, were proud of the secure and stable life they had
created for their four children. They brought up their brood in an
upper-middleclass
The three oldest children, two boys and a girl, thrived —
enthusiastically involved in school, church and family life. But young
At 19, he married a girl who was a year or two younger, and they
made their home in
In the early 1980s, Dave was still living in
One night, a bandmate’s girlfriend showed up at the bar with
her sister, Sally.
Sally and the bass player really hit it off.
Dave and Sally’s courtship ran smoothly. Dave didn’t
say much about himself, but he was a good listener.
Like Dave, Sally also had married and divorced young. Now she was
in her mid-20s and wanted to settle down and have kids.
The couple wed on May 21, 1983, and moved to
In 1989, Dave joined the Navy Seabees, and the couple moved to
Motherhood suited Sally, but she was increasingly unhappy with her
marriage. By their 18th anniversary in May 2001, Sally wanted out.
In the early days, Dave and Sally had done a lot of social
drinking. Alcohol mellowed Dave out, made him more talkative and pleasant. But
once Dave eased up on the drinking, Sally learned it was best to tiptoe around
her husband. It was the only way to deal with his unpredictable temper.
Sally sensed a hatred — toward an unknown someone —
simmering beneath Dave’s moodiness. He would brood for days and then
explode into an inexplicable rage. Sally was afraid to probe too deeply.
Dave’s past was off-limits.
"I don’t want to go there," he would tell her.
"Everything was fine. I had a good childhood."
Nor would he discuss the problems in the couple’s
relationship. Dave liked to deal in facts — bills or car repairs,
dayto-day issues he could resolve and file neatly away.
There were troubling incidents, too, like the time Dave was
arrested for exposing himself to two young girls. Sally was skeptical of
Dave’s explanation: that he had simply stopped to ask the girls a
question, but they had run off screaming.
Dave never tried to defend himself. He skipped his court
appearance and quietly paid a fine for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor.
By the summer of 2002, Dave and Sally’s marriage was in its
final months.
For the previous five years, the family had lived at
Dave was more secretive than ever, spending long hours on the
computer and walking alone through the neighborhood at night as he chatted on
his cell phone.
Sally had stopped asking questions.
The turbulence in the Fullers’ disintegrating marriage was
affecting the couple’s children, Dillon, now 11, and Stacie, 7.
Concerned, Sally took Dillon for counseling.
In June 2002, Dave took the kids to visit his parents. Before he
left, the couple argued, and Dave angrily threw out the word
"divorce."
Great, Sally thought. He’s ready.
While Dave and the kids were gone, she attended a nuts-andbolts
divorce workshop, and by the time they returned, Sally had done everything but
file the papers. She thought Dave would be pleased. Instead, he was furious.
This time, however, his tantrums had no effect. Dave’s
formerly timid wife was resolute: The marriage was over.
During the next four months, Dave’s once-orderly life
crumbled.
In August,
The agency got involved after Sally started asking questions. Dave
was livid. "I am not molesting my daughter!" he bellowed in front of
the children. Investigators ultimately concluded nothing had happened. But
Sally remained uneasy.
By September, Dave had moved into an apartment. One night, he
showed up at his old home and demanded that Sally let him in. When she refused,
he pushed her aside and barged into the kitchen.
After a screaming match, Sally locked herself in the bedroom with
the kids. Dave used a screwdriver to open the door. Sally called 911, and the
kids watched out the front window as police handcuffed their father and led him
away. Authorities charged Dave with spousal abuse.
That same month, Dave lost his job at the Saturn dealership. The
firing happened in front of his son, who had gone with Dave on his day off to
pick up his paycheck. His bosses cited a lack of productivity but suspected
Dave was visiting child pornography sites on company computers.
The couple’s house sold Sept. 26. By this time, Sally had
found a new home in
She hoped to finalize the divorce by the end of 2002. On Dec. 3,
the day of Kacie’s abduction, Dave called his mother. He seemed fine.
Sally was in
"No," June Fuller told him.
"That figures," Dave replied, his irritation obvious. He
didn’t mention that he was calling from
Dave became uncharacteris- Continued from preceding page tically
emotional. "I love you, Mom," he said, a phrase he never uttered
first.
And then he hung up.
DEC. 4, MIDAFTERNOON
Authorities now had a suspect in Kacie’s kidnapping. But no one knew
where he was or if he still had the girl.
After linking Fuller’s phone number to Kacie’s house,
Barrett called the detectives who were staking out Fuller’s motel room:
"If Fuller shows up, arrest him."
Meanwhile, investigators subpoenaed the suspect’s car rental
paperwork, complete with Fuller’s credit card number, the same one he had
used to pay for his motel room.
His recent credit history revealed that earlier that day,
Fuller’s card had been charged by Guardsmart Storage in
Maybe, Barrett thought, Fuller was holding Kacie captive there.
He headed to Guardsmart.
En route, Barrett heard from state police that a caller who had
heard news reports about the suspect’s rented minivan claimed to be following
it down
We’ve scared the crap out of this guy, and he’s
leaving, Barrett thought, assuming that Fuller was reacting to the publicity
surrounding Kacie’s kidnapping.
He’s split. He left her tied up, and there’ll be a
happy ending.
Barrett and two FBI agents arrived at Guardsmart Storage a little
after 5 p.m. The managers, a married couple, led the lawmen to unit No. 313.
The door wasn’t padlocked. The latch was unfastened. Barrett was sure the
suspect had fled in haste.
Unholstering his gun, the detective lifted the door and peered
inside.
He saw a silver minivan. Its engine was running.
Barrett stepped inside, gun still drawn. Just as his foot hit the
concrete floor, a shot rang out. Barrett and the FBI agents ran for cover. The
detective made a breathless call for help: Dispatcher : 911 Barrett: Sgt.
Barrett. Shots fired, shots fired, Guardsmart Storage,
Dispatcher: Where at?
Barrett: Guardsmart Storage, shots fired. Got me and two FBI
agents out here. Send backup now.
Dispatcher: At Smart Storage?
Silence.
Coming Wednesday:
An Internet predator.
About this series
This series of stories is based on interviews with investigators and Kacie
Woody’s family and friends, as well as police reports written at the time
and a transcript recovered from the Woody family’s computer.
All direct quotes in the narration are based on the recollections
of those interviewed. The parents of Scott, a 14-year-old Internet friend of
Kacie’s from
This story
was published Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Part IV
CAUGHT IN THE WEB LAST OF FOUR PARTS : But not forgotten
Lawmen expose an online predator’s plot, but not before Kacie
Woody’s fate becomes a cautionary tale.
BY CATHY FRYE ©2003, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE , INC.
The kidnapper still clutched his 9 mm Luger in a
lifeless hand.
A few feet from his body, in the rear of his rented silver
minivan, his victim lay on her back, her wrists and ankles chained tightly to
the four corners of the van’s floor.
He had been hiding in storage unit No. 313 since the night before.
Throughout the day, he had cranked the engine and run the heater
to warm himself.
As he had listened to the radio news reports about 13-year-old
Kacie Woody’s abduction of the night before, he learned that police knew
his name and were looking for the minivan.
The engine was still running, the radio playing, when
That’s when David Fuller shot himself in the head.
When Barrett and other investigators entered the unit more than
three hours later, they found Fuller at the back of the unit, a few feet from
the rear of the minivan, dozens of cigarette butts, a lighter and a bottle of
Mountain Valley Spring water littering the concrete floor near his feet.
Fuller, 47, had backed the silver Dodge Caravan into the unit at
Guardsmart Storage after snatching Kacie from her home in rural
The seats now rested on the floor. One was folded. The other, on
which Fuller had been sitting when he pulled the trigger, remained upright.
Fuller had been looking directly into the back of the minivan,
where Kacie lay. He had raped her. And he had shot her in the head.
The final hours of the drama had begun a little after 5 p.m., Dec.
4, 2002, 19 hours after the abduction, when Barrett had heard the gunshot and
summoned the SWAT team.
The lawmen had spent more than three hours in the sleet and snow
waiting, unsure whether Kacie and her kidnapper were dead or alive.
Just before 8:30 p.m., the SWAT team entered the unit with Barrett
close behind.
The detective identified Fuller, using the dead man’s
As investigators searched the unit, they found a half-empty bottle
of chloroform and a purple rag next to Kacie’s head.
Later, after police had studied the medical examiner’s
report, they would conclude that Kacie likely had been unconscious from the
time she was kidnapped until she was killed, a small comfort amid the ruin.
According to a security box at the storage facility, Fuller had
punched in his access code at 10:15 p.m., Dec. 3, which meant he had driven
straight there from the Woodys’ home in rural
No one who worked on the case would ever agree on the time of
Kacie’s death. With the chloroform, she could have remained alive but
unconscious for hours. Detectives don’t know if she was dead or alive
when Fuller left the unit on foot at 7:24 the following morning to buy water
and cigarettes at a nearby convenience store.
The security box showed Fuller was gone 21 minutes.
He spent the rest of the day chain-smoking and, police speculated,
waiting to flee the unit on foot after dark.
As investigators examined the crime scene, several lawmen gathered
for a somber discussion : Who was going to notify Greenbrier police officer
Rick Woody of his daughter’s death?
DEC. 4, LATE EVENING
Sam and Jessica looked at each other and spoke in unison :
"It’s Dave."
Dave, whom Kacie had befriended on the Internet, had claimed to be
18. The picture on his Yahoo profile was of a goodlooking young man with long,
wavy hair.
Sam stared, disbelieving, at this new version of Dave. He was
balding and had a mustache. "He’s ugly," Sam said. "And
old."
And then there was an update : Authorities had stormed the storage
unit. A news conference was scheduled for 10 p.m. The briefing opened with the
first report of Kacie’s death. Sam and her friends huddled on the
staircase and wept.
At 12-year-old Haley Allen’s house, the phone rang. The
caller was her father, checking on her. Haley and Kacie had been friends since
kindergarten.
"Are you doing OK?" he asked.
"Hopefully, they’ll find her," Haley replied.
"You don’t know?" There was an uncomfortable
silence. Then Haley’s dad said, "Let me talk to your mom."
Before she took the receiver, Leah Compton sent Haley to bed.
Haley obeyed reluctantly. For the next hour, she lay there,
staring at the ceiling, wondering.
Finally, Leah and Haley’s stepdad entered her bedroom.
Haley asked, "Is she going to be at school tomorrow?"
"No," Leah said softly. "She’s gone."
Haley cried and cried. And then, as many other kids in Greenbrier
did that night, she crawled into bed with her parents.
Over on
Teresa, the older sister of Kacie’s late mother, had moved
next door to the Woodys in 1990, a few years after her husband, a native
Alaskan, had drowned in the
Teresa didn’t say so, but she knew Kacie was never coming
back. When she had returned from Rick’s house at 6 a.m., she had seen an
owl perched on the deck. In her husband’s clan, the owl was the symbol of
death.
She was prepared when a family friend arrived at her front door.
Teresa spoke first. "She’s gone, isn’t she?"
Like Rick, Teresa had lost her spouse. And she, too, had lost a daughter. Her
oldest girl, Jonna, died in a car accident in 1994. She was only 17. Heartbreak
was an old, familiar acquaintance.
Teresa turned to her elderly parents, Chuck and Illa Smith.
"Mother," Teresa said gently, "it’s
over."
"Oh, they got Kacie?" Illa asked, hope lighting her
face.
"He killed her," Teresa said flatly.
There was a stunned pause. And then the Smiths sobbed. First their
granddaughter Jonna. Then their daughter Kristie.
Now Kacie.
Chuck turned to Teresa: "Why can’t we keep our
girls?" he asked. "We keep losing our girls."
Down the road from Teresa’s house, dozens of people filled
Rick Woody’s home. Rick slumped in his recliner, watching the TV for updates
on the standoff between the SWAT team and the man who had kidnapped his
daughter. Rick also listened to the chatter on his police radio.
But as a TV news crew announced that there would be a news
conference at 10 p.m., Rick’s radio went silent.
And he knew.
ALPHARETTA, GA.
In this affluent suburb of Atlanta, 14-year-old Scott was telling his parents
that something horrible had happened to a girl he had met on the Internet. It
was some time after 9 p.m., EST, and Scott, known online as Tazz2999, had just
learned from Internet news reports that Kacie was dead.
His parents, Steve and Pamela, were baffled. Who, they asked, is
Kacie? And all of this is going on where? In
So Scott explained everything, starting with how he had met Kacie
in a chat room in May 2002 and how she had disappeared the night before while
chatting with him on the computer.
"This is not small stuff," Pamela told her son.
"This is either a really sick joke, or it’s something so terribly
sad."
She looked at Scott’s pictures of Kacie. There was a school
portrait, a formal photo of Kacie in all her finery as Fall Festival Queen and
a few candid shots from Kacie’s webcam.
It would be several days before Pamela grasped the magnitude of
what her son had gotten himself into — a murder case involving a girl
from
Pamela hadn’t even known that Tazz2999 had a girlfriend.
DEC. 5, 2002
School counselor Dianna Kellar’s office at
Flowers, stuffed animals and other teen paraphernalia soon covered
locker No. 427, where Kacie had once gossiped with friends as she stashed her
books.
Throughout the afternoon, teachers comforted sobbing girls and
tried to soothe fears. By the end of the day, an oppressive grief had sucked
the laughter and chatter from the halls.
THE GIRLS SAY GOODBYE
On Dec. 8, the night before Kacie’s funeral, her friends arrived at the visitation
with yellow roses and a group picture of themselves making goofy faces.
Sam tucked the photo under Kacie’s pillow.
Then the girls took their roses, which had handwritten notes
attached to each stem, and placed them one by one in the coffin. Except for
Haley. She couldn’t look at her friend. She gave her rose to Rick.
Kacie was wearing a yellow dress her grandma had made. It was a
little tight on her, but it had been her favorite. Her Aunt Teresa had made
sure two matching jackets went into the casket. She knew Kacie would want to
show them to her mama in heaven.
During visitation, Rick said to Sam and Jessica: "Don’t
quit coming around. You’re my girls too now."
OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS
In
Dave had two computers: one in his apartment and the laptop he had
taken to
Soon, the FBI arrived at Sam’s house with printouts: a
picture of Sam, pointing to a photo of singer Justin Timberlake; a webcam
picture of another of Kacie’s friends; and Dave’s Yahoo buddy list,
which included the names of lots of Greenbrier kids.
Sam was alarmed. So was Jessica, who remembered clearly the night
she and Kacie had sent Dave a picture of themselves posing with Kacie’s
dog, George.
Dave had wanted to see what Jessica looked like.
The FBI was quickly finding out that Dave Fagen, as Fuller was
known online, had been a regular presence in teen chat rooms for at least two
years. He also had been targeting three other girls about the same age as
Kacie.
The first lived in
Fuller had asked for her phone number, saying, "I want to
hear your voice," but the girl said no. She also refused his offers to fly
her to
Another of Dave’s interests lived in
She had never given Fuller her address, she told detectives, but
in March 2002, flowers from a Dave Fagen had arrived at her home. The
girl’s father was furious. And that was the end of her correspondence
with Dave.
In Pennsylvania, FBI agents discovered a third girl who knew Dave,
but after making certain that she was safe, agents didn’t press for
details.
Investigators ran Fuller’s DNA through a national databank,
but that produced no matches linking him to other crimes. Authorities were
surprised. Fuller’s planning had been so meticulous, they thought he must
have struck before.
A KILLER’S PLOT REVEALED
Fuller, police learned, made his first trip to
The weekend he was in town, Kacie was crowned seventhgrade queen
at the annual Fall Festival’s Night of Coronation. On Oct. 12, a Saturday
night, Kacie wore her first grown-up dress, a long, shimmering black
confection, and a self-conscious smile.
She had 52 days to live.
On Oct. 15, 2002, Fuller sent this e-mail to Alltel Communications
: I am planning an extended trip to
Two days later, Kacie turned 13. On Nov. 2, when he had his kids
for visitation, Fuller bought a gun. He told them he needed it for target
practice.
Kacie also had been shopping. She excitedly described her
purchases in an e-mail to a school friend: I got a new sweat shirt today... its
really cute... and it is YELLOW! Yellow is the best color in da world!
On Nov. 4, Fuller flew back to
On Nov. 8, he extended his stay at the motel. Authorities later
speculated that Fuller had planned to abduct Kacie during this trip, but
something thwarted him.
When he returned to
In Kacie, Fuller had found the perfect victim.
She was gullible, freely giving him her real name, address, phone
number and pictures of herself. Also stored on Fuller’s computer was a
poem Kacie had sent him: It was about nine p.m.
When everything got so dim, In the road was a horse, How could
things get any worse?
We hit it hard and fast, And in it came through the shattered glass,
There was blood everywhere, The moon shone a big glare, I wondered if she was
alright, This was one horrid night, We all were rushed in the room, Where my
daddy lay full of gloom, I was only seven, I heard the prayer that said she was
in heaven, Oh that was such a horrid night, And as I stared at the sky with
fright, I wondered why she had to go away, Even though I knew now she’d
be happy everyday, I hated horses from that day on, Because now my mommy was
gone.
Such outpourings from Kacie were Fuller’s inspiration. His
fictitious aunt, who he said had been in a car wreck and was dying — like
Kacie’s mother — was key to gaining Kacie’s trust and
sympathy.
Byrd, the state police investigator, would later surmise: "On
the night Kacie died, she was telling the Georgia kid the story [Dave] told her
— how he was going to see his dying aunt and how [the aunt] was going to
go meet Kacie’s mother. As it played out, he was playing a mind game with
her. He was talking about her.
"Kacie was the one who was going to meet her mother."
A YEAR LATER
When Fuller’s parents learned of their son’s crime and death from
reporters, they were skeptical.
"My son Dave would not be involved in anything like
that," Ned Fuller declared indignantly. "Don’t bother me
anymore."
But then the police came, and they had to believe. In the months
that followed, Ned wanted to call Rick Woody, but the officers discouraged him.
"I just wanted to tell him how sorry I was and that I still
— I can’t understand — that Dave must have been out of his
normal mind-set when this happened because he was never violent," he says
now.
"I’m just sorry his was the daughter he got involved
with. I’d have probably come charging out here with a shotgun if it had
been me."
The
Sally is tall, lean and lightly tanned, her patrician features
emphasized by the short, stylish cut of her salt-and-pepper hair. She lives in
San Jacinto, just north of
She now recognizes the red flags she missed: the late nights Dave
wandered the neighborhood to talk on his cell phone; the tantrum when Sally
proposed moving the computer out of his bedroom; his insistence that the couple
have separate Internet passwords and e-mail accounts; the framed photos of a
smiling young girl in Dave’s new apartment.
At the time of Kacie’s murder, Sally and Dave’s
divorce was not yet final.
Sally heard what her husband had done from the reporters who
called as the SWAT team surrounded the storage unit. "I was not as
surprised as I could have been because of how I saw him deteriorate," she
says. "I guess I had this feeling — he is going to crash. He is just
going to crash.
"My feeling is that this was the only time," she says,
referring to Kacie’s murder. "Of course, he was gone for months at a
time, so I really don’t know."
Sally has been cautious in what she has told her children. Dillon,
now 12, knows that his father killed a girl and then himself. Stacie, 8, knows
only about the suicide.
Dave’s ashes are still in Sally’s closet. Someday,
when the kids are ready, she will take Dillon and Stacie to
Rick Woody, now 46, sits in his dimly lit, paneled living room,
staring at the row of photos that line his mantel.
There is his wife, Kristie, her striking features framed by a mass
of dark, tumbling curls. And there is Kacie, who possessed the same soulful
eyes and enigmatic, close-lipped smile.
"I’ve gone through all kinds of emotions," Rick
says, his face unreadable. "I’ve gone through the bitter stage, the questioning-God
stage, where I’ve asked, ‘How can you take my wife and then turn
around and take my little girl?’"
He recognizes the irony in this tragedy — that the man who
became a cop to help others wasn’t here when his own daughter needed him
most.
Last spring, Rick agreed to allow federal and state authorities to
share Kacie’s story in a nationwide effort called "Innocent
Images" to train law enforcement officers and educate parents — even
though he isn’t ready to hear the story in its entirety.
"I can’t let this be meaningless," he says.
"I’ve got to make it do somebody some good."
In June, the FBI presented Rick with one of 100 commemorative
patches bearing Kacie’s name. The blue-and-gold patch depicts a teddy
bear sitting next to a computer. "Kacie Woody, 1989-2002" is printed
on the computer screen. FBI agents and local law enforcement officers who are
part of the Innocent Images task force will wear the patches.
Guilt and what-ifs haunt Rick. What if he had called in sick that
night, like he had been tempted to do? What if he had kept a closer eye on
Kacie’s computer activities?
"It can’t lead you anywhere but in a circle," he
says. "You want to know everything that’s going on in your
kid’s life and you think you’ve got a good idea...." His voice
trails off. "You want to protect them...." Again, a pause before Rick
concludes: "She didn’t have any fears."
OCT. 28, 2003
White tombstones glitter against the late-afternoon shadows on this gray,
overcast day. Crickets chirp, and a breeze rustles trees on the cusp of
autumnal glory.
Rick pulls up on his motorcycle, parking directly in front of
Kacie’s grave. He takes off his helmet, walks to the grave and kneels.
Eleven days have passed since what would have been Kacie’s 14th birthday.
Tenderly, Rick scoops up the cards and notes that Sam, Jessica and other
friends have left.
In years past, Rick came here each Sept. 4, his wedding
anniversary, to leave red roses for Kristie — one for each year they
would have been married. This year, he left 22.
But now there is a second grave in need of flowers, yellow ones,
Kacie’s favorite. Rick comes here three times a week, usually on his
motorcycle. Kacie loved to ride with Rick. So it seems fitting to thunder into
this peaceful spot on his bike.
Kacie was excited when Rick bought a motorcycle. During their
first excursion, she leaned this way and that, glorying in this new sense of
freedom. Rick finally pulled over and lectured her about holding on to him. He
needed to know she was still back there. But Kacie wasn’t afraid of
falling off. She was with her daddy.
Rick leans against his Kawasaki Vulcan and gazes at Kacie’s
gravestone. He is clad entirely in leather. On his jacket, just over his heart,
is the FBI patch that bears Kacie’s name.
Briefly, a burst of sunlight pierces the clouds, warming the
shoulders, but not the stone, on which a white ceramic angel slumbers. For much
of her short life, Kacie wanted to be an angel, just like her mother. In second
grade, for a school assignment, she listed two goals: to become a gold-medal
gymnast, and then, someday, to go to heaven to see her mama.
Kacie now lies next to her mother. The epitaph on her gravestone
is a single line, an allusion to the heart-rending fulfillment of a second-grader’s
goal: I Am an Angel.
The declaration comes from a poem Kacie wrote in sixth grade:
I’m an Angel I’m an angel, Sent from above, To spread the world,
With lots of Love... "It was like someone put that in her head," Rick
says, still leaning against his bike, eyes focused on the past. "So I
thought it just belonged there."
Rick glances once more at his daughter’s grave.
And then he roars off, the seat behind him empty without the
joyful girl who once rode there, the one who dreamed of angels.
Find out how you can help.
Internet Predator Awareness
Back to Kacie Woody Home
Page
Finding information on Internet safety 1
www.fbi.gov: Click on "Reports
and Publications." Then click on "A Parent's Guide to Internet
Safety."
2
www.missingkids.com, or call
1-800-843-5678 3 www.Netsmartz.org,
specifically for children and teens 4 Free hands-on computer training
for children/parents by iTech in conjunction with the Morgan Nick Foundation:
In Little Rock, (501) 223-2299; in Fayetteville, (479) 582-5092 5 www.keystosafety.org To report a
possible online crime against children: www.cybertipline.com,
or call 1-800-843-5678 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
About this series
This series of stories is based on interviews with investigators and Kacie
Woody’s family and friends, as well as police reports written at the time
and a transcript recovered from the Woody family’s computer. All direct
quotes in the narration are based on the recollections of those interviewed.
The parents of Scott, a 14-year-old Internet friend of Kacie’s from
This story
was published Wednesday, December 17, 2003