S3 Bonus Series, Ep. 4 | “Yes, It’s at Mike’s”

Deputies and the FBI just spent two days digging around a buried structure in a field near Mendon. Sara Jo and I talk about what that search means, what it doesn’t, and why the tip behind it feels familiar.

Then we open the diary. Eric Shank’s Google account recorded where a device was, every few seconds, for 48 days after Brittany Wallace Shank disappeared. I’ve walked every mile of it. A sheriff’s office at 1:00 in the morning, twice. A tire shop that keeps showing up after dark. A night in the fields on Fawn River Road where the record goes quiet for 40 minutes. A traffic stop on video that proves whose hand the phone was in. Two devices reporting at the same time, 16 miles apart. A command sent to Brittany’s phone on Christmas morning, and three words that came back. Yes, it’s at Mike’s.

The file can’t tell us who was holding the phone. It can tell us where the phone went, when it stopped talking, and who was asking it questions. Then we close some loose ends: Laron, the story Skylar told us, a tip we chased to the end, and a phone number I still have.