Tuesday, September 23, 1997
 
Guest:  Sheriff Charles Lamar
 
Opening remarks:
 
"I'd like to tell you a bit about Macy.  She was 
always a very bright girl and independent.  In school, 
she once disagreed with a teacher, we had a long talk.  
She wanted to disobey and break the "laws" of the 
school.  What should she do? she asked.  She was 
worried about hurting my image, also, about the effect 
of this violation.  She made a considered decision and 
staged a protest outside the school - got almost all 
the students in a peaceful demonstration and the 
principal listened to her--she won.  The reasons of 
the dispute were silly.  It was how she resolved it 
that made me proud.  Smart girl.  No nonsense.  I just 
wanted you to know a bit about her."
 
Question & Answer session:
(Note:  Elizabeth Jones answered a number of questions 
in the Sheriff's absence)
 
Q:  What about Macy's boyfriend?
A:  Do you suspect a high school boy?  No, her 
boyfriend  was attending a college preview this 
weekend at Duke with his parents.  It's not a serious 
relationship.
 
Q:  What where the events leading up to the escape of 
the prisoners?
A:  The events leading up to the escape are as follow: 
first the prisoners were both being transferred from 
one holding facility to another, a round of 
questioning was planned for Anthony Phelps, the 
transfer of holding locations would have been 
permanent.
 
Q:  When did Macy last see her Aunt?  And, when did 
the Sheriff and his wife separate?
A:  Macy normally sees her aunt, and I think you are 
referring to Jeannie, a tad of background on Jeannie.  
Jeannie is the Sheriff's younger sister, she and her 
family live on the farm with the Sheriff's parents and 
run it.  The farm is located about 7 miles or so 
outside of Oxford.  Jeannie was born on the same day 
of the week and day as Macy - April 6 on a Sunday and 
that is part of the bond between them.  Macy's middle 
name Lynn is from Jeannie's name also, she is Jeannie 
Lynn.  Because Jeannie is so close, Macy spends quite 
a bit of time at the farm with the grandparents and 
with Jeannie and her cousins.  The information I have 
on the last visit was the weekend prior to
her disappearance. The separation occurred in June of 
1997 the court papers filed on July 8.
 
Q:  Could the accident have been caused to allow the 
escape?
A:  That is one of the very important questions 
currently under investigation.  The vehicle is 
impounded at the County garage under seal and is being 
gone over thoroughly for any forensic evidence, any 
evidence of tampering or mechanical failure.  Due to 
the death and serious injury of fellow officers in 
this accident you can be assured that those results 
will be forthcoming asap.  	Additionally, we have no 
direct eyewitnesses to the initial accident itself, 
therefore we do not know precisely what occurred 
there.  We are very hopeful that Deputy Phillips will 
be in a position to tell us more on that.  We have 
nothing to suggest at this time, that there were any 
plots or plans on the part of either Pierce or Phelps 
to effect an escape - no evidence that they themselves 
could have been responsible for the accident, however, 
do keep in mind that the FBI office here in MS has 
deemed Pierce MS's most wanted.
 
Q:  Were Ed and Anthony P. strapped in to the van and 
driver not or something?  I thought if anything Ed & 
AP would have died or been hurt at least.
Q:  Let me attempt to describe the vehicle and the 
accident as we know it.  That may help here.  The 
vehicle is a transport van with a cab and attached but 
separate back van compartment.  The prisoners were 
front handcuffed and leg cuffed in the back, yes they 
must be strapped in with a seat belt.  As best we can 
determine they were both sitting on the driver's side 
of the van compartment, Mr. Phelps directly behind the 
driver.  The accident occurred under a railroad bridge 
where the driver's side of the vehicle hit an abutment 
and flew from there up over the embankment.  The front 
driver's side of the vehicle suffered the majority 
impact and the worst of the accident..  Deputy Schiff 
was likely dead on that impact.  The vehicle rolled on 
it's side and slid.  This would mean that the 
passengers - the prisoners - would have been on the 
side of the van against the ground in the slide.  We 
believe they must have suffered injuries also.  Blood 
was found in both compartments, however, clearly the 
injuries were not sufficient to prevent their escape.
 
Q:  Any contact i.e. ransom demands? Threats, etc.
A:  No contact so far, no.
 
Q:  Someone asked where Macy was last seen.  We know 
she was in the record store and made a purchase.  From 
there, we have no witnesses to her whereabouts.
 
Q:  Were both deputies in the front cab?
A:  Yes both were in the front.
 
Q:  Who authorized the prisoners' transfer, and why?
A:  The transfer was necessary and ordinary and would 
have occurred anyway.  The initial holding facility is 
smaller and normally used at the present time due to 
construction for temporary holding.  Both of these men 
are considered violent felon offenders and the old 
jail has better holding facilities at this time.
 
Q:  How's the sheriff doing in the poles, now?
A:  Very poorly I'm afraid.
 
Q:  No sympathy vote?
A:  No.
 
Q:  What did the eyewitness who saw the car being 
stolen say about the condition of the uniform worn?  
Did he notice it torn or bloody?
A:  He was not close enough to tell that.  I will 
answer a few of those related questions in one with 
this.  We do feel that Deputy Stiff's shirt likely was 
bloody and likely also were the prisoners clothing.  
The only thing that makes sense here is if one or the 
other of the prisoners was so bloody, we think perhaps 
Pierce who was wearing white, the most likely of the 
two, to have taken the shirt for that reason.  We 
don't know.  It is possible I suppose for them to have 
washed it out, there are a number of streams not to 
mention any number of gas stations with outdoor
entrance toilets where they may have done so.  The 
witness could not tell.
 
Q:  Have you checked with any gas stations to see if 
they have any blood in them or traces of blood?
A:  Yes, gas stations and related establishments are 
being canvassed, nothing yet.
 
Q:  Who are major contributors for Lamar, Mazza, Ivy?
A:  Contributors lists are being checked, as are known 
associates.  It has not been ruled out that this might 
be election related, but that is not considered a high 
likelihood at the present time.
 
Q:  Have there been any sightings of Pierce or Phelps?
A:  No sightings of Pierce or Phelps yet, no 
indications that they have sought medical attention so 
far in the state of MS.
 
Q:  Have any of Macy's friends been questioned? Maybe 
she had another boy she was seeing who parents didn't 
know ?
A:  Yes, we know that at this age it is likely that a 
young lady will confide in friends first.  Her friends 
are being questioned.  No one has any information or 
knowledge related to her disappearance so far, 
however, we are gleaning more information on her life 
and thoughts we will share what we can from those 
interviews with you.
 
Q:  Is it known what the Sheriff's approval rating was 
by individuals in the department?
A:  Within the Department the Sheriff is well liked, 
there have been no suggestions of vote of lack of 
confidence in his 12 years in office so far.
 
Q:  Has the second guard regained consciousness?
A:  Deputy Phillips remains in intensive care in a 
coma at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, we hope 
that he will make a full recovery, we hope he will 
have information for us.
 
Q:  Were Ed and Tony in same cell prior to transport?
A:  No Pierce and Phelps were in separate areas of the 
jail.
 
Q:  Did Ed and Tony know each other prior to this?
A:  It is possible that they did know each other.  
They both frequented Proud Larry's, we know from 
interviews they were there at the same time over the 
past few years.  However, no one recalls ever seeing 
them together in the same
crowd.  We do know they both know Victoria.
 
Q:  Has anyone been keeping an eye on the PK burial 
site? Returning to the scene of the crime, that sort 
of thing?
A: Yes, it is being watched.  There is a surveillance 
team.. Nothing there.
 
Q:  Has Victoria been asked to ID (Phelps) by photo?  
If so, what name did she know him by?
A: Yes.  She knows him as "Tony".
 
Q:  Were they in same university at same time?
A:  Yes, they were last year, however, Tony was an 
underclassman and Ed a upper - no classes in common.
 
Q:  Anything missing from Macy's room?
A: According to her mother nothing so far. However, 
Caroline Blanchard, (Lamar) will be here tomorrow 
night and perhaps she will have more to say.
 
Q:  Notice how many specialize in computers? Macy was 
super intelligent, could she have picked up on 
something in Computer Lab?
A: Yes.  I rather doubt that, though it is possible 
and worth more of a look.  I'll check on the efforts 
there.  Macy is a senior at Lafayette High School, the 
computer classes she was taking are primarily 
programming classes.  However, there is internet 
access.
 
Q:  Did Macy know any of the victims?
A: No.  To the best of our knowledge Macy did not know 
either however, Square Books is right across the 
street from Proud Larry's.
 
Q:  Did Macy ever help her Dad in investigations?
A:  Now, that is something that both Caroline and 
Sheriff Lamar have gone out of their way to keep Macy 
separated from.  I doubt she knew more than was in the 
local paper about the cases.
 
Q:  Did Macy visit either Pierce or Phelps in jail?
A:  No.
 
Q:  How big is the YCSD and is Oxford PD a separate 
dept. or a synonym?
A:  Oxford PD is separate.  The YCSD has the primary 
responsibility for law enforcement and the only lab 
for the county.  YCSD does most of the highway patrol 
in the CO. also.
 
Q:  All members are sworn and checked?
A:  Yes.  Even our dispatch team is sworn, though they 
are not authorized for weapons.  We do have a number 
of volunteers who are occasionally called in for 
search teams and auxiliary duty who are not sworn.
 
Q:  Corruption, graft...?
A:  Yes there are some investigations, particularly 
relating to some illegal gambling and numbers ops that 
crop up from time to time.  Nothing that I can think 
of that would relate here though.
 
Q:  At Proud Larry's?
A: No, Proud Larry's has not been implicated in any of 
the numbers schemes I am aware of.
 
Q:  I presume Anderson is aware of Ed's escape and 
taking precautions?
A: I have not spoken to Det. Anderson, however, I know 
he has been informed, as have all local residents, and 
I would assume he is very capable of handling the 
situation.
 
Q:  Is the investigation of the disappearance of Macy 
and the escape and apparent disappearance of Ed and 
Tony handled as one case?
A:  No, not one case for the department.  In essence 
three separate cases, however we do believe, of 
course, they are related at this time.  All resources 
are being focused heavily on these cases.
 
Q:  Have they checked the place where Ed rented 
outside the town?
A: Yes.  It is still closed by the county.
 
Q:  And Cooters Farm?
A:  Right now Beverly Cooter is living at the Cooter's 
Estate.  Far as I know it's been shunned by the 
Shovels lately. Good question on Cooter's.  I will 
check that out.
 
Q:  Where are the Shovels digging in, now?
A:.Two of the brothers in the band have a house where 
they are practicing etc. and it is kept under rather 
close eye.
 
Q:  Are the FBI/Marshalls going to be involved since 
this is a fugitive/kidnapping, and if so are they 
going to share info?
A:  Yes, the FBI.  They have been asked for assistance 
and the state field office is coordinating with the 
child abduction unit.  We sure hope it's going to be a 
mutually cooperative investigation at this point since 
there is no proof of an interstate kidnap the FBI 
involvement is by request.
 
Q:  Any K-9 searches?
A:  Yes, a search team with the K-9 unit searching the 
areas in a outsweeping 5 mile radius from the crash
site.
 
Q:  Contact with families?
A:  We have been in contact with all family members 
and known associates - nothing there as yet.