*****
In the Light of Day
Sunset Motel
The year was 1973, in the town of Willow Brook, Mississippi in Moore County. It had been raining hard most of the day. Three inches of rain had already fallen. The driving winds of the storm sent sheets of rain hard across the parking lot of the Sunset Motel on Highway 109. The thunder roared fiercely in the background of the dark night sky as lightning tore through the darkness of the stormy night. The lights of the motel were flickering on and off as a car slowly pulled up in front of the office. The motel clerk saw the car when it pulled up but no one came in. He looked out the window and saw someone sitting in the car with the headlights still on as the windshield wipers moved back and forth. The person inside the car waited a few minutes for the rain to ease up before they got out. The driver left the car running, got out and ran toward the office door. It was a woman; she was alone. She was nearly soaked as she made her way in and wiped the rain off her face.
“It’s a bad night to be out,” said Jimmy the motel clerk. “Can I help you?”
At first she didn’t say anything. She nervously looked out as she watched a car pass by.
“I need a room,” she replied as she turned toward the window and looked out.
The clerk noticed how uneasy and nervous she seemed.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied. “I’m fine, just a little tired. I’ll be okay once I get a little rest.”
“Her you go. If you will, sign in here.”
The woman wrote her name, Diane Riddle, down on the register. He couldn’t help but notice how bad her hands were shaking as she signed in.
“Here’s your key,” he said. “You’ll be in room 14, all the way at the end.”
She quickly took the key, almost jerking it out of his hand.
She turned to leave but then stopped and asked, “Could you call me in the morning around eight o’clock?”
“Yes, ma’am, I can,” he replied.
She left the office and ran back to her car. The rain was still falling hard and it didn’t seem like it would let up for a while. She got back in her car, drove across the parking lot and pulled in the parking space in front of her motel room. Jimmy watched from the office window as she got out of her car; she was still looking back over her shoulder toward the highway. She hurried to unlock the door but dropped the key. Quickly, she picked up the key, unlocked the door and disappeared into her room. He thought she was acting awfully strange but shook his head and didn’t think much more about it. As the night went on, the rain began to let up. Thunder could still be heard in the distance as the storm slowly moved out. There wasn’t as much lightning as it was earlier but every now and then a streak of lightning lit up the sky. A couple of hours later, while Jimmy was sitting in the office listening to the radio, he noticed a car pull in at the edge of the parking lot and stop. He looked up at the clock; it was almost 10:30. Whoever was in the car turned the headlights off but left the parking lights on. The rain had finally eased up and it was only a fine drizzle. The car sat there with its windshield wipers slowly moving back and forth. Jimmy tried to see if he could make out who it was but it was too dark and too far away from the office. The car sat there for about fifteen minutes before the headlights came back on. The car pulled back onto the highway and left. What a strange night, he thought. It must be the weather, he said to himself.
Around six o’clock the next morning, Jimmy got up and looked out. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining. As he went about his morning business, he glanced down toward the end of the motel. The woman’s car was still there. About that time, a couple came in the office to checkout. Before he could finish checking them out, another man came in. He was also ready to checkout.
“That was a bad storm last night,” spoke up the young man.
“It was pretty rough there for a while,” Jimmy replied.
“I bet that wind probably blew some trees down,” said the other man. “I thought we were going to have a tornado there for a while.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” replied Jimmy, “but I haven’t heard anything on the radio this morning about one touching down anywhere.”
“I am so glad it didn’t,” the young man replied.
“Thanks for stopping by,” Jimmy told them as they were leaving. “Have a good day.”
The morning had been pretty busy and time had flew by. When he looked up at the clock, it was about three minutes before eight. He picked up the phone and called her room. However, there was no answer. He tried again and let it ring several times but there was still no answer. He leaned over the desk to see if her car was still there and it was. Well, at least he believed it was. It was still parked in the same spot. He couldn’t make out the model or color of the car last night because it was so dark and rainy when she came in. But, he was pretty sure it was hers. He called the room again, still no answer. Worried, he went to check on her. When he got here, he knocked on the door and it slightly opened. Through the small crack in the door, he called out to her; she didn’t answer. He called out again and there still wasn’t an answer. Slowly, he placed his hand against the door, cautiously eased it open and called out again.
“Hello,” he said as he opened the door and looked in.
The room had been ransacked like there had been a fight or struggle. But, the woman was nowhere to be found. As he looked about the room at all the mess, he noticed the bedcovers were hanging halfway off the bed, her clothes were thrown everywhere and her suitcase was lying open against the wall. The light beside the bed had been knocked off and broken. He noticed the bathroom door was closed. He knocked on the bathroom door and called out again before he opened it. The mirror had been broken and the shower curtain was dangling from the rod. Still, there was no sight of her so he took off running back to the office and called the police.
When the police arrived, Detective Ronnie Johnson and Detective Kenneth Howard questioned him. Jimmy explained to them what had happened.
“Last night, she came in to get a room. I noticed she seemed to be uneasy or afraid of something because she kept looking back. She kept watching cars pass by the motel like someone was following her. I asked her if she was alright and she told me she was. When she was leaving the office, she asked me to call her room the next morning around eight o’clock. I told her I would and I did. There was no answer. I called several times but she didn’t answer. I was worried so I went to check on her. When I got there, I knocked on the door and called out. Still, no answer. When I opened the door, I saw the room was a total wreck. Then, I called you.”
“Can you remember anything else? Did you see anyone outside her room?” asked Detective Johnson.
“No, I didn’t,” he replied. “It was storming so bad I could hardly see anything.”
“What about the people next door?” Detective Howard questioned.
“That room was empty. Oh, wait a minute. There was something else strange that happened.”
“What’s that?” Johnson asked.
“About ten-thirty,” he said, “I saw another car pull in and stop at the edge of the parking lot. It sat there about fifteen minutes and then left.”
“Did you get a good look at the car?” replied Howard.
“No,” he answered, “not really. It was dark and the car was too far away.”
The detectives went over to her car and looked it over. Everything seemed to be okay. They looked at the license plate; it had an Arkansas tag. Detective Howard called the plate in as Johnson looked in the glove compartment and found the registration. The car was registered to a Diane Riddle. Jimmy then spoke up and told Detective Johnson she signed in under that name. Johnson went inside the room and looked around. Shortly after, Detective Howard went in and told him the tag was registered to her also. They checked the room. There wasn’t any sign of a forced entry or blood. T
hey found her purse lying on the floor next to the bed. Her driver’s license was still in her wallet with a little dab of money. She also had her bank book, lipstick, a few pictures and some other things in her purse. Her car keys were on the nightstand.
Johnson asked Jimmy, “Did you see or hear anything last night?”
He replied, “No, I didn’t see or hear anything. I usually close the office around elven or eleven-thirty and I didn’t see nothing.”
“What do you make of it, Ronnie?” asked Kenneth. “It’s obvious something happened in this room,” he said. “It appears she put up quite a struggle.”
“It looks that way to me, too,” replied Kenneth.
They were walking back to their car when they heard a call come in on the radio. Ronnie reached in and answered the call. It was from an officer who had found an abandoned car about a half mile up the road from the motel and there appeared to be smeared blood on the trunk.
“Wait there. We are on our way,” Ronnie replied.
Quickly, the detectives took off. About a half mile up the road, they pulled in behind the officer’s squad car. When they got out and walked up to the car, they saw the smeared blood on the trunk. They searched in and around the car. Kenneth noticed the car had an Arkansas license plate. Kenneth called it in while Detective Johnson check the glove compartment for the registration. The car was registered to a Barry Sadler. In a matter of minutes, it was confirmed the car was Barry Sadler’s. Detective Johnson pried the trunk open with a tire tool. When the trunk popped open, the body of a man was inside. From the look of things he had been hit in the head with a metal rod or tire tool. There was blood splattered on the back of the car and blood on the ground. The detectives looked for anything that would help them identify the man. However, there was no I.D., wallet or anything. The officer who found the car was searching the ditch beside the road when he yelled out he had found something. It was the possible murder weapon, a bloody tire tool. The detectives went over to where the officer was and bagged the tire tool as evidence. They all continued to search in and around the car for any evidence that would give them an idea of what happened. Any evidence, no matter how big or small, would help solve the case.
A few days later, the detectives received the crime lab report. The bloody, smeared prints on the trunk of Barry Sadler’s car were too smeared to get any identification from them. But, the blood on the car was Barry Sadler’s. The only prints found on the bloody tire tool belonged to Sadler. The detectives assumed the killer must have worn gloves. There was nothing in the report that would help explain the woman’s disappearance from the motel.
The detectives brought Jimmy Ferguson, the desk clerk at the motel, in to see if he could identify the abandoned car. He told them he believed it was the same car he saw pull in at the edge of the motel parking lot that night. But, he wasn’t positive since it was dark and rainy. He just wasn’t sure.
The detectives put out an all-points bulletin for the missing woman, Diane Riddle. Detective Johnson called the Dry Rock, Arkansas police department in Griffin County since Diane and Barry Sadler were both from there. He talked to Detective Paul Johnson about the situation. He told him Diane Riddle was missing and the body of Barry Sadler had been found. Detective Johns told Johnson he would check in to the situation and see what he could find out. The first thing Detective Johns did was check with the missing person’s department at the station. He found out Diane’s husband, Robert Riddle, had filed a missing person’s report on his wife. Detective Johns went to talk with Robert Riddle about his wife and he sent Detective Hackett to speak with Barry Sadler’s family. Both detectives thought there might be a connection between the two. Detective Johns arrived at the Riddle’s house as Robert Riddle was pulling in from work. When Robert first saw him he thought his wife had been found.
“Have you found Diane?” he asked as he got out of the car.
“No, we haven’t,” Detective Johns replied. “But, we do have some information about her.”
“What is it?” he asked. “Is she okay?”
“We found out she rented a motel room in Willow Brook, Mississippi. The morning after she checked in, the motel clerk called her room because she had requested a wakeup call. However, she didn’t answer. He went to her room but she wasn’t there. Her car was still there so it’s possible she left with someone,” stated Johns. “The police in Willow Brook are looking for her. They have put out and all-points bulletin for her so maybe she’ll be located soon. Mr. Riddle, why did you report your wife missing?”
Robert replied, “A couple of days ago, I went out of town on business. When I got back home, she was gone. At first, I didn’t think much about it. I thought she was out and about running errands or shopping. That night when she didn’t come home, I became worried. I didn’t know what to think. I was worried and afraid something bad had happened to her. I didn’t know what to believe. I was up all night worrying about her. The next day, I called the police and filed a missing person’s report because it’s not like her to do anything like this. We have only been married about a year. We met at a restaurant in Little Rock. I was at the bar with some of my friends when I first noticed her sitting at a nearby table. Our eyes connected; we gave each other a few flirty looks before I went over and sat down with her at her table. We hit it off immediately and one thing led to another. That night, I spent the night at her apartment. The rest is history. We started dating and a couple of months later we got married.”
“Were y’all having any marital problems?” questioned Johns.
“No! No!” he cried out. “Everything was fine. We hardly ever have any problems or arguments. We have a good marriage.”
“Do you think she might be having an affair?” Johns asked.
“Of course not,” he replied. “I am sure of that.”
“Well, then, do you know why she was in Mississippi?” questioned Johns. “Do you have family or friends down there?”
“No, we don’t,” he replied. “All our family is up north. That’s where we’re both from. All our friends live here. We moved here to Dry Rock when I got this job. None of this makes any sense to me. It’s crazy.”
“Do you know of anyone who would want to harm her?” asked Johns.
“No, no one I can think of,” he replied. “Why?”
“Have you received any threats or ransom messages?”
“Why? Do you think she’s been kidnapped?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Right now, at this point, I’m working with detectives in Mississippi to see if we can locate her. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“No, not right now,” he replied. “There is nothing much to tell. She was here one day and gone the next.”
“Well, thank you, Mr. Riddle,” said Johns. “When I find out more, I will let you know.”
“Do you think she has been murdered?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Johns. “Oh, by the way, do you know a Barry Sadler?”
“He and my wife works at the same bank,” said Robert.
“What bank is that?” asked Johns.
“Southern State Bank,” he replied. “I met him a time or two when I went to pick Diane up for lunch.”
“Do you think they might be having an affair?” questioned Johns.
“No, not really,” he said. “Diane and I have a faithful marriage. I just don’t believe she would cheat on me and I haven’t cheated on her.”
“Do you know much about him?” asked Johns.
“No, not really,” he said. “All I know is that he worked at the bank. Diane never talked about him. Why do you ask?”
“They found him dead in the trunk of his car about a half a mile up the road from where you wife got a motel room,” stated Johns.
“That’s strange,” he replied. “Do you think there is a connection?”
“Right now, I don’t know. It’s a possib
ility. Well, I have to go,” said Johns. “Thanks for all your help. I’ll keep in touch.”
Detective Johns left, called Detective Hackett and told him to meet him at Southern State Bank. When Hackett pulled up at the bank, Detective Johns pulled in behind him.
“Why are we here?” questioned Hackett.
“Because Diane Riddle and Barry Sadler both work here,” replied Johns as they entered the bank and walked up to the teller.
“How may I help you, sir?” the teller asked.
“We’re detectives Johns and Hackett and we’d like to speak with the manager,” said Hackett.
She called the manager, Amanda Shelton, and told her two detectives were there to see her. Amanda instructed her to bring them to her office.
“May I help you?” she greeted the detectives.
“I’m Detective Hackett and this is Detective Johns. We want to talk to you about Barry Sadler and Diane Riddle
“What about them?” she asked.
“A missing person’s report has been filed for Diane Riddle,” replied Detective Hackett, “and Barry Sadler’s dead body was found dead in the trunk of his car in Mississippi.”
“Oh, no,” she cried out, “how awful.”
“How well do you know them?” Johns asked.
“Well, I don’t really know much,” she said. “Diane took a leave of absence a few days ago and I haven’t seen her since. You say she is missing.”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Hackett.
“Diane came in a few days ago,” said Amanda, “and told me she needed some time off from work. So, I let her off. Barry came in a couple of days later and told me he was quitting. I haven’t heard from him either.”
“What kind of work relationship did they have?” questioned Hackett.
“They seemed to get along well here at work,” she said. “They talked a lot. I never had any problem out of either of them. They were both good employees.”
“Were they having an affair?” asked Johns.
“No, I don’t believe so,” she replied. “I don’t know what they did when they weren’t here but I don’t believe they were having an affair. They didn’t seem to be more than working friends. Plus, I have never seem them together anywhere but here at work. Excuse me for a minute,” she said when her phone rang. “Yes,” she answered. “I’ll be right there. Excuse me for just a minute, detectives. I’ll be right back.”
She left and the detectives waited in her office. About twenty minutes later, she returned.
“I’m sorry about the interruption,” she said. “That was the president of the bank. He just found out there is a large sum of money missing from the bank. He suspects Barry may have taken it.”
Stunned, the detectives looked at each other and then at her.
“Do you think there could be a connection with Diane, Barry and the missing money?” she questioned.
“It sure is a surprising coincidence,” said Hackett.
“Thank you, ma’am, for your time and the information. If you hear anything else, please give us a call,” stated Johns.
“I will,” she replied.
The missing money became a piece of the investigation puzzle. The next day, Detective Johns contacted Detective Johnson in Willow Brook and told him about the bank’s missing money and that Barry Sadler was the suspected thief. The detective in Mississippi had run in to a dead-end. However, all of them agreed there was definitely a connection with Diane, Barry and the missing money from the bank. Detective Johns told Johnson they would keep in touch as they continued to investigate.
It was a couple of days later when they received a tip from a bus clerk at the Jackson, Mississippi bus station. A woman fitting Diane’s description had been seen at the bus station. They weren’t for sure it was her but she resembled her a lot. Detectives Johnson and Howard took off to Jackson to speak with the clerk. They arrived in Jackson within a couple of hours. The bus clerk told them the woman she saw favored the police sketch. The only differences were her hair was longer, it was a different color and she had on glasses. The reason she remembered her was she seemed nervous and kept looking around like someone was following her.
“At first, I didn’t think anything about how she acted; I see people acting strange all the time. I was off work the next couple of days after I saw her. When I came back to work, I saw the police bulletin and sketch on the board in the breakroom. The woman looked awfully familiar and then I remembered I had seen her here at the station,” she explained.
“Do you know where she bought a ticket to?” asked Johnson.
“No, sir, not right off,” she replied. “But, I believe it was up north somewhere.”
“Was she alone?” asked Howard.
“Yes, sir,” she replied. “I don’t remember seeing her with anyone. Before she got on the bus, she did use the payphone.”
“We appreciate you giving us a call,” stated Johnson. “If you see her in here again, give us a call immediately.”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
On the way back to Willow Brook, Johnson and Howard put their heads together to try to piece everything together. They discussed their ideas and speculation about the case trying to put the scattered pieces together.
“Let’s get Detective Johns and Hackett to check the bank’s phone records. Maybe that will help us figure out if they were more than just working friends.”
The next day, Detective Johns and Hackett arrived at the bank with the bank’s phone records in hand to talk with Amanda Shelton again. They confronted Amanda about the phone records.
“Why did Diane Riddle call you from the Jackson, Mississippi bus station?” Detective Johns asked.
“She didn’t call me,” she replied.
“It says right here that she did,” he said as he showed her the phone records.
“I assure you I haven’t talked to her since she asked for a few days off. She may have called the bank but I swear to you I have not talked to her.”
The detectives left, contacted Detective Johnson back in Willow Brook and told him what they had found out. As the hours passed, Johnson and Howard battled with the case. They contacted Diane’s husband, family and friends to see if they had heard from her. But, no one had. Days and weeks went by and there was still no sign of Diane. She seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth and the case became a cold case.
A few months later, Amanda Shelton quit her job, left town and moved to Toronto Canada where she met up with her friend, Diane Riddle. Little did anyone know, Amanda and Diane worked together to steal the money. They used Barry to steal the money and once they had the money, they killed him. That night at the motel Diane got the room and Barry met her there. She and Barry trashed the room and then she left with him. Amanda, who had been waiting outside the motel in her car, followed them. About a half a mile up the road from the motel, Diane turned on Barry and killed him. After Diane killed Barry, she and Amanda put his body in the trunk of his car. Amanda drove Diane to the next town, Jackson, Mississippi. Diane, in disguise, took a bus to Memphis. From there, she took a plane to Chicago and then to Toronto Canada where she waited for Amanda. After Amanda let Diane out at the bus station, she went back home and went to work. A couple of months later, Amanda moved to Toronto to be with Diane. About two years later, someone thought they had seen Diane in Toronto but they weren’t for sure it was her. There had been several calls to the station of people who thought they had spotted her. But, nothing ever panned out. Diane’s husband finally went on with his life. He moved to Texas where he remarried and had three children.
About five years after her disappearance, Diane’s body was found in an apartment in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. She had been murdered; the case was never solved. The suspect in the case was a woman who had been seen with Diane the night she was killed. The description of that woman fit the description of Amanda Shelton who also disappeared and was never found.
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