Text Version:
(Introduction to show begins)
TODD MATTHEWS (Missing Pieces Host): I’m Todd Matthews and this is Missing Pieces. Tonight we have Kathye, whose last name we will not speak of, and she is a friend of Mandi Alexander, and I think she knows of a case, the Mary Drake case. Welcome, Kathye.
KATHYE (Guest): Hi. Thank you.
TODD: Are you nervous?
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: You shouldn’t be nervous; this is a taped interview.
KATHYE: I know.
TODD: We’re trying to have a little bit of a laidback conversation, so it will be fine.
KATHYE: Okay.
TODD: Everybody is a little nervous, but it’s okay. It’ll work out really well.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: Now, why…everybody is going to ask me the question, why are we not using your last name?
KATHYE: There’s really no reason…I kind of just wanted to keep it originally anonymous…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and not even use my name at all, but it didn’t turn out that way in the media that we had done locally, so she (Kimberly) asked if I wanted it used and I said, “Well, it really doesn’t matter either way.”
TODD: Is it a little bit of privacy or…?
KATHYE: Yeah, and he’s still out there too, our suspect is still out there and it’s kind of scary, you know, doing this with your last name and people can get online and I’m all over the Internet so…
TODD: It’s pretty scary and it’s hard to hide, and sometimes when you hide, you stand out even more.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: And I don’t know if everybody understands it or not but I’ve had people that try to do a few sneaky things to get around a few things that I work with, and I thought, “The harder you try, the brighter you glow.”
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: So it’s pretty interesting.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: Now, the name of this particular episode is, ‘Police Still Puzzled Over Bakery Killings.’
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: And I think you knew Mandi Alexander personally, right?
KATHYE: Yes, I did.
TODD: Okay, tell me a little bit about Mandi.
KATHYE: I had met Mandi back several years ago. My sister knew her first, she had met her first, and through my sister, I came to know her and over time her and I had become friends closer than my sister and her. And then I got involved with her family and her parents and became very close with them. She remained a close friend for probably 7 years, prior to her death, and we weren’t constantly together or anything like that; we’d kind of go in and out of hanging out, that sort of thing. We were fairly young at the time and life gets in the way sometimes and you drift apart and then you come back together. Prior to her passing, we had gotten pretty close and spent some time together and that’s how I knew her.
TODD: Now, what is today? Today is September 4th.
KATHYE: Today is the 5th year anniversary of her death. She was murdered 5 years ago today at the Dolly Madison Bakery in Great Bend, Kansas.
TODD: Mother of two, 24 years old.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: How did she die?
KATHYE: I’m sorry?
TODD: How did she die?
KATHYE: She was…she had worked at the Dolly Madison Bakery for 3 days…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and she wasn’t supposed to work that day. For some reason, the lady that was supposed to work, ended up not working and Mandi worked for her, being a new employee. Some time between 5:15 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., I believe, somebody came into the bakery and murdered her and also, and I don’t know the details of anything that happened inside, but also Mary Drake, who was a customer of the bakery, was murdered along with Mandi. They were…law enforcement released that they were killed with a sharp object, and that’s pretty much all we know.
TODD: So just, circumstantially, that these two ladies, probably not really connected by any other reason than being there?
KATHYE: No, my assumption is that Mandi, she was working…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and I believe that Mary had been a regular customer of the bakery and she had just apparently gone in at the wrong time and everything happened.
TODD: Do you know any of Mary’s family?
KATHYE: I do. I didn’t know any of them until this happened, but I know some of them now, but I didn’t know Mary personally, and it’s just been because of this situation that we know them.
TODD: It’s brought a lot of people together, it sounds like?
KATHYE: Yeah. It’s been…I know that Mandi…I believe…I don’t know if I should say that, but it’s been a horrible thing and I don’t even know.
TODD: Now, you’ve remained close to Mandi’s family.
KATHYE: Yes. Yes. Her mother and father are very…I think of them as parents. They’ve been…even before this happened, they’ve been a big part of my life and it’s something that has remained, even more so now.
TODD: I’m going to quote her Dad, “You feel like there is something wrong with you because you can’t grieve, but there is just so much going on and all you’re thinking of is what happened and this guy getting caught.” Now, do they have any idea who killed them?
KATHYE: We have no idea at this point. Law enforcement, they’ve interviewed over 600 people in the case, and we’ve not come up with a suspect. We do have a physical description.
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: I need to back up a little bit. I’m so nervous that I’m just skipping over things.
TODD: Oh, that’s okay. We’ll go back; don’t worry. We just ramble around just like when you’re having a conversation with an old friend.
KATHYE: I can do the rambling.
TODD: (Laughs) I’ve got that down. I’ve got that down really good, with all the interviews that I’ve done, rambling really works…
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: …because you get to scatter out then go back and catch up. And we try to be relaxed and even laugh sometimes because we are so nervous doing these things.
KATHYE: Yeah. Well, give me a little bit and I’ll get over it and I’ll get on a roll, and you won’t know how to shut me down.
TODD: Well now, her husband, you know they were actually going through a divorce and he was probably maybe looked at, at one point in time, and cleared; how was that?
KATHYE: That…she had been divorced for quite some time…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and the media kind of got that a little bit confused, but she had been divorced for quite some time. He had been looked at…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and I believe he was interviewed, at that was cleared. Her current boyfriend had been cleared also of knowing anything. What had happened, and I need to back up a little bit, I think between 5:15 and 6:00, a customer was coming up to the bakery to go in to purchase something. As they were walking up to the door of the bakery…the bakery faces west…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and they were coming from the store next door, which is the smoke shop, and it faces south. The customer was walking to the front door of the bakery and they were walking from the south to the north, and as they were walking up, a man came out of the bakery, turned around and appeared to be locking the door. He was…my assumption would be, he heard somebody walking up to him or to the door, and he simply said, “They’re closed,” and he walked away. He walked to the north and he just walked away. And the customer approaching the bakery, they didn’t think anything of it, you know, this is a very small town and nothing like this has ever happened. I mean, nothing ever happened like this, so they just…my thinking would be, they didn’t really think about anything so they just left. Well, the next day, when it came out is when…and this is my assumption, I’m assuming that the witness came forward and said that they saw this man coming out and they told authorities, and the authorities were able to get from this witness, a composite sketch and physical description, which is all we have.
TODD: And we have that on the website. You’ll have a permanent page for these two ladies and we’ll keep that there along with this audio and a transcription.
KATHYE: Great.
TODD: We’re looking at a white male, approximately 6’ to 6’ 2”, 175-188 pounds; light brown to blond, shoulder-length hair, and a slight beard. He was wearing denim cut-off shorts, dark-gray to black t-shirt, dark baseball cap, white socks and unknown footwear. Is that correct?
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: Okay.
KATHYE: Now he, of course, and I’m sure everybody would know this, but that’s what he looked like at the time, he could look totally completely different, but 5 years ago, at the time, that’s what he looked like. And it’s so hard to say, the picture could be anybody, and we’re not quite sure of the accuracy of course, and that’s probably with any composite.
TODD: Well, I’ve seen composites actually get an age progression; a missing person or unidentified person might get an age progression as time passes so that we might get to see what they look like now. Of course, they’re probably watching somewhere trying to know what not to look like.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: So, you know, it kind of bad to putting that kind of stuff out there…
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: …because it really puts…it paints a real face on something that we don’t really know.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: So it’s really hard. I try to get everybody…we try to get people focused on unidentified cases where they’re actually really looking at the features, but when you have something that is totally unknown like this, you know it’s a guesstimate.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: I’ve seen them really close and I’ve seen them really far away. They can be just anywhere.
KATHYE: Right. Right. The thing that always has really puzzled me is that it happened in broad daylight on one of the busiest intersections in town, and like I said, this is like a little rural community, and it’s small; everybody knows everybody. How can somebody do this, commit a double homicide inside a bakery and walk away and nobody sees anything? It just blows my mind how this happened.
TODD: Was anything taken?
KATHYE: There was some money taken from the register and I’m pretty sure that they thought I could say that. I hope…
TODD: Well I read that so…
KATHYE: Okay.
TODD: …it’s out there.
KATHYE: Yeah, there was some money taken from the register, the amount, I have no idea. I don’t personally, and I’ve said this on another interview I did, that I don’t personally believe that she was targeted. We’ve gotten…well people are speculating, I’ve heard that a lot, they say that Mandi was the target, this is the assumption. My personal feeling is that she was not targeted and nor was Mrs. Drake; it was just kind of a random thing. And why they chose that bakery, why they chose to do what they did, it still has yet to be known.
TODD: It seems like there is more involved in it than what we’re realizing.
KATHYE: Yeah, that’s just it, we don’t know anything other than that we’re left sitting here going, “Why did any of this happen? How?” I mean Mandi was just the sweetest person. She was very, very soft-spoken, very sweet and loving, and I couldn’t imagine anybody doing such a thing to her or to anybody. Her, and Mrs. Drake, I didn’t know Mrs. Drake but why would they do that to her too? Why? I don’t understand and that’s what drives me. I have to know why and their families have to know why, and there’s justice that has to come from this. I’m furious about it, and it’s like my grief had turned into this absolute rage about it, and it’s unbelievable.
TODD: Why does it bother you so? How do you…how can you explain how this has consumed you?
KATHYE: It has consumed me…life, to me is such a…and this is my own personal…life, to me is such a cherished thing and you only get one shot, and to be able to live life is a huge, huge gift, and then to have it snatched away from you in a second is absolutely…by the hands of another person just because they want to is…I can’t even comprehend that, and it infuriates me because no person, I don’t care who they are…to die by the hand of another person, like that, brutally, it’s infuriating. And just to think of what they went through in there, it not only makes me sick, but it makes me just irate at this man, and it’s a driving…I can’t explain it, it’s a driving force that it consumes you, it does, and to think of what they went through, it just makes you determined. I don’t know how to explain it.
TODD: I would have no idea. (Laughs)
KATHYE: Yes, you would. (Laughs also)
TODD: I think I know, and it’s hard to explain to yourself at times. You know I look back at things I’ve done and I think, “I don’t know why I did that.” I don’t know exactly how to explain having gotten that caught up in something. Even though it’s a good cause and it’s for a good reason, it’s just that sometimes you’re just so powerful at the time and you, you know, what can you do about it?
KATHYE: And that’s…it’s like that for me, and I can’t even imagine what…you know, she was my friend…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and I know how bad it affected me, I can’t even imagine what her family, and what the Drake family, are going through. I just can’t even…for me, the first two months after this happened, I was in really bad shape emotionally, and it was very horrible, so I can’t even imagine what the Sunderlands and the Drakes have gone through, and her sisters and her whole family. But there came a point where I had to get numb to it, because once the initially shock was gone, you had to get numb to it so that you could do whatever you can to find him because he could do this to somebody else, and that’s what we don’t want. We want to find him before he does. If he can do this to two people already, why couldn’t he do it again to somebody else? I don’t want to be his victim, and I don’t want anybody else to be his victim. He’s already taken two lives; that’s it, it’s over with that. He’s got to be found and I’m hell-bent on it being done, you know, it’s...I don’t know if I can say that…
TODD: Oh yeah. Yeah, we’re pretty liberal.
KATHYE: Okay.
TODD: (Laughs)
KATHYE: Oh good. It’s just this anger and rage towards him.
TODD: Well do you have any idea what, you know, a sharp object? I know sometimes I work with law enforcement a lot and sometimes they know more than they can say…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: …and I’m thinking that they simply described it as a sharp object and left it at that, for the time being…
KATHYE: Right
TODD: …or do we kind of have an idea?
KATHYE: No, it was just kind of a sharp object; that’s basically where they left it.
TODD: Okay.
KATHYE: I mean, I…
TODD: Because you have to think, was it a weapon or something that was readily available there? You know there are so many possibilities of something.
KATHYE: There are a lot of possibilities, and at this point, we have no clue. And if they do, they haven’t released that at all, they’ve just basically left it as a sharp object and we really don’t know. I should say, I personally don’t know what it was that was used, but he was very brazen about it, to go in there and do it and walk out and lock the front door and tell somebody, “Oh yeah, they’re closed, okay,” and then just walk away like nothing…wow.
TODD: Well, people are motivated by so many different things now, you know, the money, drugs…it could have been so many things, and then you think, you know, have there been similar crimes like this in other areas nearby?
KATHYE: Yes, that’s what I’ve tried to watch for quite a bit, is something similar, and so far I haven’t found anything that’s quite exact like this, but I always watch for that stuff and I’m sure that KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) does also.
TODD: Now, I always watch shows where they try to profile somebody and they say what the M.O. is of the killer, and just like before when we talked about the sketches, if I was the killer, I would try to do everything but what they were describing me as.
KATHYE: Right. Right.
TODD: You know you’re not going to use the same thing; it’s not like they’re locked into anything.
KATHYE: Yeah. And I don’t think that this is a serial killer that did this. I really…I don’t think that this is a serial killer that’s going around, that’s kind of obvious, but he…
TODD: Well, you have to wonder if it was a robbery and maybe they both tried to act together and stop it, you know.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: It’s just hard to say why it happened.
KATHYE: Right, and that I don’t even know; it’s speculation at this point.
TODD: What about her children?
KATHYE: Her children are…they were very young at the time, they’re still very young, and they are with family members. They were her life. Everything she did was for them and she was a wonderful mother and she loved her kids with unconditional love and special love, and she was a great mother…a great mother.
TODD: Now, I know you’re working on the case and I’ve seen early interviews with the family members early on, and I know it’s been difficult for them and you continue to move forward yourself, what about the ex-husband and the boyfriend, have they been instrumental at all?
KATHYE: In helping?
TODD: Well, in trying to keep the case active or showing any interest at all.
KATHYE: Are you…?
TODD: I’m not saying that they had anything to do with it; I’m not suggesting that, but support, you know?
KATHYE: Yes. Not none, no. You know you would think that…you would think that…somebody that you had children with, you would maybe want to do something to help…
TODD: Well, for the kids, even.
KATHYE: Well, from their point, they don’t have anything to do with the kids, but just as a human being, you would think that…I mean to say that they, at one point, loved this girl and you would think that they would want to do something to try to help somewhat…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and absolutely nothing, which is fine.
TODD: It’s a disappointment. Have you talked to either of them?
KATHYE: I’m sorry, what?
TODD: Have you spoken to either of them, the boyfriend or the ex-husband?
KATHYE: No, but the boyfriend, yes, very briefly.
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: And then the ex-husband, I’ve not spoken with him at all.
TODD: And the boyfriend might just have been, you know, one of those temporary things, passing through and easier just to let go of it than to hang on to it. But now, the ex-husband, hmmm, that’s kind of a hard…
KATHYE: Yeah, it’s like neither one of them…I don’t know, I wasn’t around either one of them when it happened; she really wasn’t with either one, so to speak…I shouldn’t say that they don’t care because I don’t know. And the ex-husband, he can just go and stay where he’s at. (Chuckles) Well, actually, both of them. It was just a bad deal.
TODD: What about her parents now? How are things for them today?
KATHYE: It’s difficult. I mean, they say that time heals and in some cases it doesn’t, it kind of gets harder, but I think that the main thing that’s keeping them going is God and their faith in God. And they’re very strong…I’ll tell you what, the strength that I have seen these people display is unbelievable. It’s…I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I know if I were to lose a kid or my sister or somebody very close to me like that, I would just…I would be going off the deep end, and they have remained so strong. And it is hard for them, and as time goes on, it is difficult, but they’re displayed some of the most incredible strength that I’ve ever seen in a human in my entire life, and I totally admire them for that, very much so.
TODD: Now, we talked earlier, we had a little pre-interview chat, and we spoke of some of the other interviewers…Nancy Grace…
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: …and Paula Zahn, and so you’ve made attempts to reach out to some of these people.
KATHYE: I have contacted…initially we had contacted ‘America’s Most Wanted’.
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: We had written up a little paper on the case and explained the case and sent in things. I actually got a call from ‘America’s Most Wanted’ and they were wanting to do the case. Well, at the time, the bakery was still open and still running; it is now closed down, but at the time, it was still up and running and they wanted to do the taping inside the bakery. The people at Dolly Madison’s refused, is what happened, so ‘America’s Most Wanted’ just kind of drifted off. Well, we contacted them several other times and I know that one of the agent with the KBI, he had contacted ‘America’s Most Wanted’ and was trying to get them to take the case. With the composite, I don’t know if they didn’t want it because it wasn’t…I really don’t know why they didn’t want to take the case, or ended up not taking the case.
TODD: Well it’s a shame with the bakery, I mean, I know business is business, and it would hurt business definitely, but…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: But, you know, maybe it was an employee.
KATHYE: That’s right. Exactly. I guess they feel like paid their dues; they did donate $10,000 to the reward, which is very much appreciated, but I guess that they might have felt that they were donating this money, but were not going to let them into the bakery to film this. I don’t know, that’s just my opinion.
TODD: What’s in the bakery now?
KATHYE: Nothing. It’s just completely empty, and it’s actually for lease. It’s been for lease for the last year.
TODD: What would be wrong with doing it now?
KATHYE: That’s just it. If we could get them to come here, that would…and like I said earlier in our pre-interview, I had Guy (Sunderland), Mandi’s Dad, Guy, and I had done a CourtTV…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …that was national with Catherine Crier Live. And that was the only nationally renowned show that this case has been able to get on to. It has stayed confined within the state, and my personal feeling is, if it could get out there, if he’s not here, then we’re keeping it confined to this area where he is not. If he’s out of the state, then we’ve got to get it out there so that people know about it because nobody knows about little, rural Great Bend, Kansas, and nobody has heard about it so how would they know that this guy could be their neighbor and how do they know they he’s done this if it’s just confined to one small area? And my feeling on it is that if we could it out on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ or ‘Cold Cases Files’ on A & E, in fact, I just wrote them and put a thing on their website today about it, I really feel like our chances would be a lot better.
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: You know, getting it out there, and today is the 5th year anniversary, and what I’m confident in is, you know, number one, the KBI…well, I’ll talk about that a little bit later, but we’re only 5 years out, not 10 or 15 or 20 years out, we’re only 5, and I am very confident that it can be solved, and that it will be solved. It’s just a matter of getting it out to the right resources to get it solved and get some help.
TODD: There is still a $10,000 reward, right?
KATHYE: There is a $17,000 reward.
TODD: $17,000, but $10,000 from Dolly Madison?
KATHYE: $10,000 from Dolly Madison; I believe $5,000 from the governor’s reward from the State of Kansas, and then $2,000 was donated, I believe, I’m not real sure, if it was CrimeStoppers that donated it or if it was a local business that did it anonymously. I’m not sure where that other $2,000 came from.
TODD: So that’s…I’ve not seen a lot of that online either, that’s $17,000, that’s a lot of money.
KATHYE: That’s a lot of money.
TODD: That’s a lot more than that person got when they robbed that store, I guarantee.
KATHYE: Yeah. Exactly. And I would think that if somebody knew, they would come forward, for just that.
TODD: Yeah, really. I mean if you’re somebody that knew this guy, it’s enough to rat the killer out.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: You’ve got 17,000 reasons to give you a good reason to do that. Can you remain anonymous?
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: I mean, what if I was a friend of the guy and we’d both been involved in a few shady deals and, you know, nothing like murder, but I kind of knew he possibly was but I was afraid maybe something else I may have been involved in would be exploited, so obviously being anonymous would be important to me.
KATHYE: Yes. I think through the 1-800-KS-CRIME, I believe you can remain anonymous there, and then also there is a CrimeStoppers number, which I believe is on her webpage, on her MySpace, there’s a CrimeStoppers number 1-888-305-1300 or 620-792-1300.
TODD: And we’ll have all of that linked to the page for Mary and Mandi and it’s going to be there permanently. That page will be there permanently and we’ll keep spreading the word and they do look at it; I see the bigger media outlets, they do read these, and they like to have things pre-processed, like I told you earlier, and it helps.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: And you might get a call from somebody like Nancy Grace, at some point in time, and good luck with her. (Chuckles)
KATHYE: Right. Yes.
TODD: (Still laughing) I told you before, I was a little afraid of her. I almost had to do an interview with her, and it’s a little intimidating, especially when you’re already nervous.
KATHYE: Yes, and that would be me.
TODD: And so we kind of went a different route with the interview; we did the Paula Zahn, and I felt so much better with doing it.
KATHYE: Well, good; good deal. I was going to talk about the KBI…
TODD: Okay.
KATHYE: They’ve done over…and local law enforcement also, the Great Bend Police Department, these guys have exhausted every single lead that has come in. There have been hundreds and hundred of leads over the last 5 years that have come in, and nothing has ever panned out. But these guys, they’re on it, and they’re doing a great job. They’re doing excellent at chasing down these leads and they’ve been unbelievably great with keeping us posted on everything, keeping in touch with us.
TODD: And that is so good to hear because so many times I’m hearing just the opposite and, you know, I try not to put the full blame on law enforcement, because I know that often there are a lot of things going on that we don’t know about, but…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: …it is bad when you see, you know, that’s the impression that the family is left with, that nobody cares; whether that is true or not, it hurts.
KATHYE: Yeah, and you know, one thing that I’ve learned with this case, I’ve learned a lot of things with this case, but one thing I’ve learned with the law enforcement is that when it seems like nothing is going on with it and it’s sitting on a shelf collecting dust, that’s not the case. There is stuff going on with it, and a lot of this stuff, they can’t tell us.
TODD: Yeah.
KATHYE: Even if it’s something, you know, they can’t share everything with us, and I really have to brag about our guys on this case. They’re just…Cory Latham, Bruce Miller, and all the guys in the KBI and the Great Bend Police Department, they’re been unbelievable. And they’ve been supportive of us and supportive of what we’re trying to do on this end, and they’re putting in a lot of hours on this thing so it’s not…today, I guess, and I could have this wrong, but I’m going to tell what I kind of understand it to be. Being 5 years, the case goes to cold case…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …quote unquote, you know, cold case. That doesn’t mean that it going to sit of a shelf and they’re not going to do anything with it; what that means, I guess, is that there’s a squad out of Topeka, which is our capital, that the case is eligible for them to look at or take, or something along those lines, and I could have this wrong but I believe that’s what they told me.
TODD: It makes sense because that’s similar in some other areas.
KATHYE: Okay, so I might have my feeling right, in the right direction, but it is now technically considered a cold case, although, we still continue to get leads regularly on the case. But the KBI and the agents working this case, I mean they’re not going to put it down. They will still continue to work it and I am totally confident in these guys that they’re going to get it figured out and we’re going to get this guy. There’s no doubt in my mind. I mean they’re just not.
TODD: Now, you have so much faith that this is going to be solved.
KATHYE: I have unbelievable faith that this is going to be solved.
TODD: Yet it still haunts you?
KATHYE: It does haunt me.
TODD: Now see, in the things that I’ve worked on, I’ve already resigned that nobody cared anymore.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: And so you’ve got a totally different outlook on things.
KATHYE: Yeah. This is something that, if it does take us 10 years, I’ll still be right here plugging along with it. It can’t be solved. It just can’t. That’s not how it’s going to go down. He’s not going to get away with it; he’s not. I’m kind of an aggressive person by nature…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …and whatever I can do, I’m going to do, and I know that the agents are going to do what they…they’re pretty aggressive too. And the family, their faith and their hope, it’s just something…he’s not going to do this and walk away from it. I mean he’s walked for 5 years. We’ve been searching for 5 years and it’s been long enough, and we’ve all had it, and we’re coming for him, and we’re going to find him and he’s going to be sorry…real sorry. Sorry, I’m starting to get a little…
TODD: (Laughs)
KATHYE: (Laughs also)
TODD: I was letting you ramble.
KATHYE: Yeah. I was getting mad.
TODD: I’m glad it was someone else besides me, for a change; it felt good.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: Now I know what it was probably like to interview me a while back.
KATHYE: What?
TODD: Now I know how people felt when they interviewed me.
KATHYE: (Laughs)
TODD: “This guy is mad.”
KATHYE: Yeah. It’s infuriating and it’s like nothing that you can describe. It’s nothing that I can put into words, really, and that’s just kind of how it is. But, one other thing too that I wanted to talk about a little bit before I forgot was, there are two customers…
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: …that they were not able to track down from that day. There are two transactions that are not accounted for; everything else in the store that day was accounted for but these last two. And with it being so close to Labor Day, there is a big Labor Day festivity thing that goes on in a little town 9 miles north of here, of Great Bend, and I don’t if it could have been somebody just passing through and kind of hung over from the Labor Day, or what, maybe made the purchases and they’re out of state, they’ve left and gone back home out of state, and they have no idea that we’re looking for them, you know. And that may not be the case, we don’t know who these last two transactions are; anything at this point is possible. And, like I said, it’s one of those things that I feel like it’s been so confined to this area that it needs to get out further.
TODD: So our goal now is to try to take what we’ve done tonight and just try to spread it out a little bit and, hopefully, by word of mouth maybe it’ll get a little more exposure and people can hear a little more about it…
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: …and hear it in more detail. A lot of times it’s easier for you to tell me your story, than it is for me to read it.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: So we try to provide it both ways so everything will be in a nutshell on the website with this, and we’ve gotten tips before on other cases. We’ve had a lot of interesting things that have popped up so don’t be surprised, you know, you could hear something. And I try to…I hear from a lot of media and sometimes they’ll have very specific things that they’re looking for…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: …so I often have a chance to pitch some of these stories to them, “Well, I have this one here,” and “Here’s this one. You can have the transcript; you can have anything you need. Here’s the contact information for some of the people related to the case.” And we’ve done that often, so hopefully we’ll be doing the same for this case, as well as for all of them.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: It’s good to hope and I’m glad we got to talk to you on this anniversary. Does the family know that you’re doing anything?
KATHYE: Does the family what?
TODD: Do they know that you’re doing anything tonight, or is this going to be sort of a…?
KATHYE: About the radio show?
TODD: Yeah.
KATHYE: Yes, they know. They know.
TODD: Okay. And it will be available…and it was just important that we taped it today in honor of what’s happened.
KATHYE: Right. Right, and we sure appreciate it and, you know, just thank you so much for letting us tell the story and…
TODD: We’re trying to get the ones that just have so…a lot of the actual true media, they want stories that have a high profile, and we’re sort of trying to find some that have not had a high profile…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: …that should have a high profile…
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: …so that’s the point.
KATHYE: That’s been one thing too, that has bothered me. Like, I did a…the Hutchinson News, which is a local paper, they found Mandi’s page on the Internet and they wanted to do a story on me and the page, and so they came and I interviewed with them and I told them like, “What makes this case so different from the Laci Peterson case?”
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: “What’s the difference?” I mean that was national. Was it because she was pregnant? Well, my friend has two little kids, and Mrs. Drake had grandchildren and great-grandchildren and children, you know. No disrespect for the Peterson family at all, but what makes the case so different? I mean, it’s not.
TODD: It’s really not
KATHYE: Two people lost their lives.
TODD: A lot of it is timing and where you’re at.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: The availability of media and what they’re needing for the day.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: What’s the big story for the day?
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: What do we need to look at for the day? How twisted the story is; there are just so many things.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: But you know, there’s no difference.
KATHYE: Yeah, and I understand all those things. It just made me think that since we’re in a small community, it doesn’t matter because the rest of the world is bigger than us, you know, you just get on the pity-pot a little bit, you know.
TODD: Well, I live in a very small town too, and it’s very much like Mayberry.
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: It really is. It really is a lot like Mayberry and I kind of like it…
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: …but for some reason, when you’re looking at the bigger picture of things, no, you don’t have the resources often…
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: …that other places have.
KATHYE: Yeah, and it’s just something that I think has to be pushed for and that’s what I’m trying to do, push for outside to take it and take an interest in it and just run with it. Help us get this guy caught, and we’ll see what we can do about helping spreading the word for you on your cases; you know what I’m saying? On other people.
TODD: Uh huh.
KATHYE: You know, this is something is like, when this is over, I want to do something to help people like us, you know, direct them to where they need to be to find the answers they need and give the help that they need on their case as well.
TODD: Well, you’re a very nice lady to help these two ladies.
KATHYE: Well, it’s not a problem. I mean it’s something that has to…I don’t know. There are a lot of people working on this case and it’s been phenomenal; everybody’s been so great.
TODD: All we can do is try. You know sometimes, after a decade of so, you might be surprised at what might happen.
KATHYE: Uh huh. Yeah.
TODD: I seen it go from nobody caring and can’t get anybody to listen to it, to, nobody could get enough of it.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: And, my, how it changes; how fast everything changes and it’s a funny world.
KATHYE: Yes. Yes. I know it, but I’m very confident that hopefully within the next few years, we’ll get this figured out and get it solved, and they’ll get him and bring him in and then we’ll have that.
TODD: Well, my best to you, her family, the Drake family, and those two officers that you spoke so highly of, and the rest of the team. It’s sound like you’re better off than so many others.
KATHYE: Well thank you very much.
TODD: Already, just with that, you’re so much better off. You’ve got a lot of people that care and I think these two ladies would be proud of everybody that’s working on this.
KATHYE: Yes.
TODD: I’m sure of that.
KATHYE: Yeah. Yeah, they would.
TODD: Hopefully we’ll have you back…
KATHYE: Sure.
TODD: …with some kind of an update; hopefully we’ll have something that we can push forward and I want you to stay in contact with us.
KATHYE: Right.
TODD: We do have an email group where we can kind of all stay together and hear about some of those other people we interview, so I want to make sure you get to that, and feel free to say, “Hey, this is happening.”
KATHYE: Yeah.
TODD: And we can update things or type a short update.
KATHYE: Sure.
TODD: It doesn’t have to be an entire hour; we can do whatever we want to…
KATHYE: Okay.
TODD: …so we’ll definitely do that.
KATHYE: Well thank you so much for having me on here.
TODD: So we’ll say goodnight to our audience.
KATHYE: Yes, thank you so much for listening and for having us, and just thank you very much.
TODD: All right. Goodnight to everybody.
KATHYE: Goodnight.
TODD: See you next time.
Place this banner for Mandi Alexander's case on your MySpace:
Simply copy and paste this code anywhere in to your MySpace proflile:
Place this banner for Mary Drake's case on your MySpace:
Simply copy and paste this code anywhere in to your MySpace proflile:
If you have any information on this case
Please use click this link below:
Resources:
