Before She Was Found(83)

OFFICER WILSON: Okay, Jordyn. Your attorney tells me that you have some additional information regarding the incident at the train yard. Is that right?

JORDYN PETIT: Yes.

OFFICER WILSON: It’s very important that you answer my questions thoroughly and honestly. Do you understand?

JORDYN PETIT: Yes.

OFFICER WILSON: Because the assistant district attorney is holding off on your arraignment because you told Mr. Peale here that you had some information that could help the police. Is that right?

ROBERT PEALE: I explained this all to Jordyn. She is well aware that she needs to be completely truthful. She knows that you will have to investigate her claims before she is allowed to go home. Right, Jordyn?

JORDYN PETIT: Right.

OFFICER WILSON: Okay, Jordyn, tell me what happened the night of April 15.

JORDYN PETIT: Where should I start? At Cora’s house or at the train yard?

ROBERT PEALE: Why don’t you start at the train yard, Jordyn. That’s what’s important here. If Officer Wilson has more questions, she’ll ask.

JORDYN PETIT: We went to the train yard, like I said.

OFFICER WILSON: For the record, who went to the train yard?

JORDYN PETIT: Me, Violet and Cora. We were going to look for Joseph Wither. We did a project on him for school and we wanted to see if we could find him. Later Gabe was going to meet us there.

OFFICER WILSON: What made you think Joseph Wither was going to be there?

JORDYN PETIT: Well, I knew he wasn’t really going to be there. I knew he was make-believe but Cora thought he was real and I think that Violet kind of believed it, too. Cora went on this chat room and met someone who said he was Joseph Wither. He kept telling Cora how much he liked her. How special she was.

OFFICER WILSON: A chat room? Did you tell anyone about this? Your grandpa? A teacher, maybe?

JORDYN PETIT: No. Cora made us promise that we wouldn’t and we didn’t want Cora to get into trouble. Her parents don’t let her go online much. She would have gotten in big trouble if they found out.

OFFICER WILSON: Do you remember the name of the website?

JORDYN PETIT: DarkDoor? No, it was DarkestDoor.

OFFICER WILSON: Okay, so you went to the train yard to look for Wither...

JORDYN PETIT: Yeah. Violet and I were going to play a prank on Cora. We were going to pretend that we saw Wither and scream and yell. Gabe was going to be there, too, and jump out. Violet didn’t know that Gabe was coming, though. We brought a knife and I was going to pretend to be stabbed by Wither, who was really Gabe. Then I was just going to get up and show her that I was okay. We just wanted to scare her.

OFFICER WILSON: Is that what happened? You scared her?

JORDYN PETIT: No. We didn’t get a chance to.

OFFICER WILSON: Why’s that?

JORDYN PETIT: I don’t know for sure. At first it was fun being at the depot so late. It was dark and creepy. But it was cold and I started to get nervous we were going to get in trouble so I told Cora and Violet that I wanted to go home.

OFFICER WILSON: Did the other girls want to leave, too?

JORDYN PETIT: Cora wanted to stay. She wanted to keep looking for Wither. When I tried to walk away she got mad and grabbed on to my backpack and almost knocked me down. I turned around and pushed her. She fell down.

OFFICER WILSON: That’s when she got hurt?

JORDYN PETIT: She was holding her arm. I didn’t mean to push her so hard but she yanked on my book bag first. Then we heard a noise off in the grass. At first I thought it was Gabe but then I wasn’t sure. It was dark and scary so we ran off.

OFFICER WILSON: Did you run away together? In the same direction?

JORDYN PETIT: No. We all went a different way. I ran toward the depot building and hid behind a boxcar. I’m not sure where Cora and Violet went. I never saw Gabe.

OFFICER WILSON: Then what happened?

JORDYN PETIT: I watched from behind the boxcar for a few minutes.

OFFICER WILSON: What did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: (inaudible)

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn, what did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: I’m afraid to tell.

ROBERT PEALE: It’s okay, Jordyn. No one can hurt you here. Go ahead and tell Officer Wilson what you told me.

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn?

JORDYN PETIT: I saw Violet run off toward the tall grass—not to the spot where we heard the noise, the opposite direction—and she disappeared. She hid in there. Cora started to run along the tracks but she was going slow because of her arm, I think. She was holding it.

OFFICER WILSON: Which way on the tracks was Cora going? East or west?

JORDYN PETIT: Um, I don’t know. But she went away from the depot building.

OFFICER WILSON: You were hiding behind a boxcar and saw Cora and Violet running away, too. Then what did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: I saw someone coming out of the grass.

OFFICER WILSON: Did you recognize the person? Did you know who it was?

JORDYN PETIT: I think so.

ROBERT PEALE: Remember, Jordyn, you have to be sure. If you’re not, you need to tell us. It’s very, very important that you get this right.

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn, do you know who it was coming out of the grass?

JORDYN PETIT: It was my teacher. It was Mr. Dover.



Beth Crow


Wednesday, April 18, 2018


I sit alone in the waiting room staring down at my hands, images of the video running over and over in my mind. The girls happy one moment, taking selfies in front of the boxcars, then everything went to hell. I wonder why Gabe Shannon was there. Violet never mentioned him being there. Then there was the bloody knife Violet dropped when she came out of the tall grass. I wish I could watch the video again to see if Violet was the one holding the knife just before the girls ran off.