Page 28 of The Ice Sisters

THIRTY-TWO

CROOKED CREEK POLICE STATION

Coffee in hand, Ellie settled in her office. Derrick appeared with a scowl.

“I’ve been looking into Modelle’s background,” she told him.

“And?”

“He grew up north of Coal Mountain. Mother was single and did factory work. Father was in jail for assaulting her and for beating his son with a whip.”

“Real stand-up guy as his role model,” Derrick said.

Ellie nodded. “You know what they say about the cycle of abuse repeating itself.” She tapped her notepad where she’d been scribbling. “He was married and worked for a vet as an assistant but was fired when someone claimed Modelle treated the animals too roughly. After that he took what he could get, a job cleaning stalls at a nearby farm.”

“If he hurt animals then his own daughter, he fits the profile of our unsub,” Derrick said.

Ellie went on, “True. The wife divorced him after his trial. I can’t find a current address for her.”

Derrick’s brows lifted. “Why don’t you review the trial notes and I’ll make a call to the prosecutor in the case? Then we can regroup.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She snagged one of the bagels Derrick had brought and settled at her desk while he moved to the corner of her office and claimed the seat in front of the table. It had become his working spot when he was in town.

Ellie ran a background search for Modelle, searching for priors. More than one complaint had been filed against him at that vet clinic. Police had also been dispatched to his house on more than one domestic violence call.

She read the details with a frown. Once, a neighbor claimed she heard things being broken in the house and saw his daughter running toward the river crying. Modelle was chasing her and the neighbor was terrified he’d hurt her. Police intervened and issued a warning.

Another report described Modelle and his wife in a brawl where he’d shoved her down the steps. She’d hit her head and spent two days in the hospital with a concussion.

A month later, police went out with a social worker from DFACS based on a teacher’s report that she’d seen deep bruises on the little girl’s shoulder and back. Anger cinched Ellie’s stomach at the thought.

Deciding she wanted to speak to the teacher who’d reported the incident, she scrolled further. Reports were made anonymously to protect the person reporting the suspected abuse, but she found the initial police report and located the name.

Barbara Thacker.

She had been married to a man named Thomas.

Which meant she might be the woman in the hospital. The one who’d disappeared.

THIRTY-THREE

While Ellie worked, Derrick skimmed articles on Modelle’s child’s death and the case.

Late Friday evening, at approximately eleven p.m., police were called to the house of Larry and Bernice Modelle when a neighbor’s teenage boy found their nine-year-old daughter Lindy dead at the bottom of a ridge. According to the neighbor, his son had been out walking the dog when he spotted a bright yellow jacket on the ground then his dog ran to the ridge and began barking. The boy raced back to his house for help and his father called the police.

The man recognized the girl and confirmed that police had visited the property on DV calls on more than one occasion.

The son stated that he saw a man running through the woods away from where the girl lay dead.

Police found Mr. Modelle inebriated at his residence and incoherent. His wife was also intoxicated, inconsolable and insisted that her husband had hit her in an altercation. She stated that her daughter tried to intervene and Modelle turned on her. She screamed at the little girl to run and shedid. Modelle knocked his wife down then chased after his daughter.

Derrick skipped to another article.

Neighbors confirm that Mr. Modelle was a bitter, violent and angry man, especially when he was drinking. On several occasions, they witnessed him behaving violently, and they heard loud outbursts. Modelle also threatened them after they called the police. Police were dispatched to his house and arrested him twice. Each time his wife bailed him out and refused to press charges.

Typical of the abuse victim. Derrick moved onto another article with photos depicting the day the trial verdict was read. His wife was not in the courtroom. In fact, after testifying, she’d supposedly left town. The jury had been unanimous in ruling against Modelle, although even after sentencing, he’d insisted he was innocent. His lawyer filed an appeal based on the fact that Modelle insisted his wife had been the one to inflict the abuse on their daughter. Later, an anonymous tip surfaced saying that the mother was also abusive to the child, which created reasonable doubt.

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