Wednesday, March 6, 2019

The Strange Case of The Springfield Three

Sherrill Levitt was a 47-year-old single mother and cosmetologist. She loved her profession at the local hair salon. Her 19 year old daughter, Suzanne Streeter, had ambitions to become a stylist in the future was well. Suzanne was a little bit OCD as well.

On June 6th, 1992, Suzanne and child hood friend, 18 year old Stacy McCall, graduated from Kickapoo High School.

Stacy McCall was funny and bubbly and she wanted to go to college.

Later that evening after the ceremony, Suzanne, Stacy, and a mutual friend, Janelle Kirby went to Janelle's house for a celebration. 
After the party, Suzanne and Stacy went back to Sherrill’s home on 1700 block of East Delmar Street in Springfield, Missouri, at approximately 2:00 a.m. They told Janelle that they would call her in the morning. That is the last time Suzanne and Stacy were heard from or seen. Investigators believe that they probably made it back to Sherrill's house. 

Earlier that night, Sherrill was last heard from between the time frame of 11-11:30 p.m. speaking to a friend on the phone and working on a project.The following morning, Janelle called Sherrill’s house. She made attempts numerous times, including leaving messages on the answering machine, but Janelle never got an answer. At first, Janelle made the presumption that the girls were still asleep.

Later, Janelle called her boyfriend, Mike, and drove to Sherrill’s home close to 9 A.M. When they pulled in cars belonging to Suzanne, Stacy, and Sherrill were present, but Stacy's wasn't parked in her usual area under the carport. She got out of the car with Mike to knock on the front door. Janelle and Mike were on the front porch they noticed the front door was left wide open. There had been broken glass scattered everywhere, coming from the globe that covers the light, but the light itself was perfectly intact. Mike grabbed a nearby broom and swept up the glass.

When Janelle and Mike made their way inside, the television was on but with only static. As they continued their rounds of the home, both were shouting the names of Suzanne and Stacy, but it was to no avail.

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The only signs of Sherrill, Suzanne, and Stacy were their purses, jewelry, and cigarettes.Their makeup was in the bathroom and the beds had signs of being slept in. The family dog, a terrier by the name of Cinnamon, was freaked out and acting crazy. There were no indications of foul play.

Janelle suggested that it was possible Suzanne and Stacy had already left. While walking outside the landline phone began ringing. Janelle quickly answered. On the other end of the phone, a male voice was throwing out lecherous sexual innuendos. She hung up the phone. The same male called back immediately continuing where he left off after the initial hangup. Janelle cut him off again and both her and Mike hurriedly made their way out and left the area.

Stacy’s mother, Janis, and her oldest daughter, Lisa thought that  Stacy was at Janelle’s house. A relative relayed the information that Suzanne and Stacy left for Sherrill’s. Janis and Lisa headed into town to pick up Lisa’s wedding dress at the bridal store. Almost a full day had gone by and Janis still hadn’t heard from her daughter, Stacy, so Janis decided to go to Sherrill's house.

Though nearly twelve hours have gone by since Janelle and Mike were at the home, everything was still the same. By now Sherrill's home is full of friends cleaning up, waiting to hear from the three missing women. Janelle used the landline and called the police. Janis unintentionally deleted the messages that were on the answering machine previously, including the unidentified male voice leaving lewd and absurd messages of whom Janelle spoke to. 

The police filed the report as a Missing Person’s case. And since they received the call at such late hours, they suggested Janis swing by the police station the following morning. They also asked if she could bring her daughter's dental records.

Days later,  a young waitress working at Sherrill and Suzanne's favorite restaurant, George’s Breakfast, claimed to see the three missing women the night of their disappearance between the hours of 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. This sighting could never be cooberated.

The police started digging into the backgrounds of the three women, which led them to Sherill Levitt's son, Bartt Streeter. At one point in the early 1980’s, Bartt was kicked out of the home due to him being an alcoholic. He came back ten years later. Bartt and Suzanne agreed on sharing an apartment together. It wasn’t long and Bartt became a worse alcoholic than ever. During an argument between Bartt and Suzanne, the fight led to physical altercations. That was the final straw for Suzie and she moved back home with their mother, Sherrill. However, police quickly ruled him out as a suspect.

Police stared to look at Suzanne’s ex-boyfriend Dustin "Dusty" Recla and his friend, Michael Clay. While the two were in a relationship, the two men were charged with vandalizing a mausoleum and also stealing gold teeth from the corpses of some, of which they profited by selling at nearby pawn shops. Once Suzanne found out about the criminal charges, she broke off the relationship. Dustin and Michael always suspected that it was Suzanne who turned them in. Suzanne supposedly was going to testify at their trial that was just a few months away.

After the breakup, there were multiple reports about hearing Michael say that he'd wished that all three of the women were dead. Their whereabouts the night they vanished has never been confirmed. They have never been apprehended or charged with the disappearances, but are still considered suspects to this day.
A lady came forward and stated that on the day of the women's disappearance at 6:30 a.m., she was sitting out on her front porch when she noticed a dodge panel van that had a silver to a greenish hue, seemingly from the mid-1960’s to early 1970’s. She noticed a young woman in the driver’s seat that appeared very distressed. She claimed to hear an unidentified male voice speaking to the driver saying, “Back out slowly and don’t do anything stupid.”
Someone from the state of Florida called in after seeing the case on the national news, telling them to look at Robert Craig Cox. The caller was the brother of Sharon Zellers, a 19-year-old teenager allegedly murdered by Robert Craig Cox in 1978, as she was on her way home from a late night of work at Disney World.

In California, Cox pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to nine years in prison and dishonorably discharged from the Army. After his release, Cox was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988 for the 1978 murder of Sharon Zellars in Orlando, Florida. But in a rare ruling that conviction and death sentence was overturned in 1989 due to lack of evidence. After released, Robert Cox moved to Springfield, Missouri where he coincidentally worked with Stacy McCall’s father. There was no evidence linking him directly to The Springfield Three disappearance, so he was never charged with any crime. In the meantime, Cox was arrested in Texas for aggravated robbery and it was while he was in custody that he declared he believed The Springfield Three were dead and whoever did it was someone who knew what they were doing.

Years later, Kathy Baer, a freelance journalist and an amateur detective gets a tip that the three are buried underneath a hospital, that use to just be dirt back when the three disappeared. She brought this information to police and they pretty much laughed at her, so Kathy hires a man who uses high-tech, ground penetrating radar. The radar is able to find grave hidden concrete. He finds three images that look to be graves. Police say that it doesn't fit with the timeline. 

Kathy claims that she knows who did this to the three ladies, but so won't say because she is afraid for her safety. She will say that Stacy wasn't the target. She has received death threats and has been advised to leave the case alone.

The case of The Springfield Three remains unsolved.

There is a $42,000 reward offered for information of who is responsible. 
If you have any information, no matter how small, please call
1-417-869-TIPS.

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