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Field Investigation Report
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Investigator: Special Agent Donna Hillman Incident Date:
11/20/97 Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department Incident Summary At approximately 1100 hours on November 20, 1997, witness Aline Roberta Cousins of the Neptune Garden Apartments, 1180 Neptune Street, Memphis reported sighting missing child Macy Lynn Lamar in the company of two adult males leaving the apartment complex in a dark (black) American make car, which witness thinks may have been a Cadillac. On November 20, 1997 Agent Stremcha and this agent arrived in Memphis at 1630 hours. We met with Memphis PD Detective Whitaker at the Neptune apartments at 1730 hours. Apartment 3A was secured by Detective Whitaker per our request and no scene processing had been undertaken. We received the Memphis PD witness report of Ms. Aline Cousins and the incident report. A search warrant was obtained by Agent Stremcha and myself at 1700 hours and served at 1730 hours. Keys to unit 3A were obtained from property manager, Denise Castile. Scene Processing Summary Present at the scene were Detective Whitaker, myself, Agent Stremcha, Senior Criminologist Grier and Forensic Scientist West both of the Memphis Crime Lab. This agent was lead investigator at the scene. At 1740 hours we began our investigation. Neptune Apartments is a 48 unit, garden apartment complex. Two units, 1C and 2C are in use by management. Eight of the complex units are vacant. Building A has three vacancies, units 1A, 3A, and 6A. Unit 3A is situated on the second floor of this building directly over apartment 1A and beneath 5A. The unit is a two bedroom unit. Entering the unit I observed a living room to the right of the entrance containing a sleep sofa, a chair, two end tables with lamps and a portable television. Beyond the livingroom is a corridor style kitchen. In the sink were apparently used dishes consisting of two plates, one glass, and a table knife. There was a limited amount of cookware in the cupboards, some dry and canned goods. The refrigerator contained a half loaf of bread, some packaged ham, a container of what appeared to be spaghetti sauce, butter, condiments, an open milk carton, and a can of peaches. The bathroom is to south of the kitchen and contained an open bar of soap, a bottle of shampoo, a can of shave cream, a box of tissues, two folded towels. The medicine cabinet was empty. The sink cabinet contained a sponge, toilet brush and open can of cleanser. The north bedroom and east bedroom contained only two twin beds in each which were stripped. Trash containers were located in the kitchen and bathroom, both were empty. All windows, sliding glass balcony doors and entry door were locked. The unit was orderly and undisturbed. Photographs were taken by FS West. SC Grier vacuumed the sofa, chair and beds for fiber evidence. FS West and SC Grier chemically processed the scene with ninhydrin. Areas included flat painted walls in all rooms, the entry wall and door, area around all light switches. We left the scene at 1900 hours. The scene was secured by Agent Stremcha and myself. On 11/21/97 myself, agent Stremcha and FS West returned to unit 3A at 0800 hours. FS West resprayed with ninhydrin. We secured unit 3A at 0930 hours and FS West left the scene. At 1530 hours FS West, Agent Stremcha and myself returned to Apartment 3A for final processing. Ninhydrin processing produced four possible areas of ridge detail. These were the wall section near the entrance door and light switch, the wall section to the left of the entrance to the north bedroom, the wall section to the left of the entrance to the east bedroom and the wall section near the light switch in the bathroom. Sections were removed by FS West for lab analysis. Black powder dusting was completed of all interior doors, counter tops, door jambs and the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Fluorescent Powder was used on all wood surfaces, the kitchen cabinets and the end tables and TV stand in the livingroom. Evidence collected at the scene includes: four sections of wall, six labeled vacuum bags from the couch, chair and four beds, the dishware found in the kitchen sink was individually bagged, packaged food from the refrigerator consisting of ham, milk and peaches, canned goods from the kitchen cabinets, the contents of the bathroom. Interviews Summary Denise Castile, Property Manager Agent Stremcha and myself interviewed property manager Denise Castile at 0945 hours on 11/21/97. Ms. Castile produced documents to the effect that the apartment complex is owned by Jordan Properties and managed by Manor Realty which is also owned by Jordan Properties. Mr. Michael Andriotti is the principle owner of Jordan Properties. Ms. Castile is the on site property manager for the Neptune Apartments and has been employed there since July of 1990. Information independently verified. Ms. Castile produced rental records showing that apartment 3A had been leased to elderly couple, Milton and Enid Stein until October 25th of this year. Ms. Castile states that Mr. Stein was in poor health and the couple moved to a managed care facility in Florida. Current address and phone number were obtained. Apartment 3A had not been rented subsequent to that vacancy. Ms. Castile stated that she was unaware of anyone in that unit and that as far as she and Manor Realty were concerned, the unit had not been rented to anyone. She has no idea who was in the unit, did not observe anyone in the unit, and does not know how keys to the unit might have been obtained. She states that the Steins turned in their keys when they vacated the unit. Ms. Castile stated that none of the residents had reported anything to her. She is normally in the management office from 0900 to 1630 hours Monday through Friday. The management office is located in Building C to the southeast of building A with a separate parking lot. It does not have a view of Building A. Ms. Castile states that her last contact with Mr. Andriotti was on November 3, 1997. She states he normally checks with her by phone on a monthly basis. Mr. Castile maintains a home in the Cayman Islands on Grand Cayman. Ms. Castile does not have an address or phone number for this residence. Ms. Castile states that Mr. Andriotti is an acquaintance of Mr. Reed Chambeau of New Orleans. She is unaware of any joint property ventures or other business associations between Mr. Chambeau and Mr. Andriotti, but that they both attended Tulane. Ms. Castile reports that Mr. Chambeau has visited the Neptune Apartments with Mr. Andriotti several times, the most recent visit in March of this year. She does not have records of the date. She met Mr. Chambeau on this occasion. She states she has not had any communication with Mr. Chambeau since that time. Ms. Castile provided us with a list of current tenants of the complex most of whom are retired or elderly persons. Ms. Castile had no other information to provide. She appeared truthful and willing to assist during our interview. The interview was concluded at 1130 hours. Ms. Aline Cousins, Witness Agent Stremcha and myself interviewed witness Ms. Aline Cousins who reported the original incident. Ms. Cousins apartment has a view of the entrance to Building A and the parking lot. Line of sight distance from Ms. Cousins' window to the entrance of Building A is approximately 40 feet. With Agent Stremcha in the position where Ms. Cousins made her identification of Macy Lamar, both Ms. Cousins and I were able to easily distinguish identification of Agent Stremcha from the window. Ms. Cousins confirmed her identification of Macy Lamar from photographs. Ms. Cousins wears bifocals which she states she wears at all times and was wearing at the time of the incident. Ms. Cousins provided a description of the two men as follows: both white males in their 30's or 40's with athletic build. Ms. Cousins was not able to provide height and weight estimates other than to say they seemed �average�. She states they had their backs to her when Ms. Lamar stumbled, her attention was focused on the girl and she did not get a good description of the men before they entered the vehicle. The position of the vehicle prevented Ms. Cousins from viewing the license plate. Ms. Cousins had no additional information to add to her original witness statement. We concluded our interview at approximately 1300 hours. Summary of Resident Interviews Agent Stremcha and myself conducted a complete canvas of all residents at the Neptune Apartments. On November 21, 1997 we interviewed all tenants in Buildings A and B. On November 22 we interviewed all tenants in Buildings E and F. On November 23 and 24 we interviewed all tenants in Buildings C and D. The results of these interviews produced no additional eye witnesses of the victim, Macy Lamar, or the two adult males Ms. Cousins observed. Residents of Units B4, B6, E2, E4 and E6 all reported seeing lights in unit 3A. Several residents noticed the black vehicle in front of Building A. No residents were able to provide a definite make, model or license plate. Lights were reported seen in Unit 3A from approximately November second or third. Telephone Interviews Mr. Andriotti was unable to be located for interview. Mr. Reed Chambeau was contacted on November 24 and stated that he has no knowledge or information on this incident. He confirms his March visit to the Neptune apartments. He stated that he and Mr. Andriotti do not have any joint business ventures. He knows Mr. Andriotti from Tulane and has maintained his friendship. He does not have Mr. Andriotti's address or phone number on Grand Cayman Island. His last contact with Mr. Andriotti was a phone contact in August of this year. Mr. Chambeau stated he was last in Memphis on September 18th but did not visit the Neptune apartments. Agent Stremcha contacted the Steins in Florida. They stated they have no friends or relatives to whom they gave keys to Apartment 3A when they lived there and that all keys were returned to the management office when they moved. They have no information on the current tenants of the apartment. Neighborhood Canvass A canvass of local area merchants produced no further sightings or information of the subjects or vehicle. Forensic Findings Summary Crime lab reports found two prints positively identified as belonging to Macy Lynn Lamar. Two unidentified prints were found, an index finger and thumb print. Fiber evidence shows nothing conclusive to this case at this time and is retained for comparison with future evidence. Investigators Conclusions Investigation of this incident was concluded on Wednesday, November 26, 1997 at 1930 hours. Based on eyewitness identification and physical evidence it is this investigator's opinion that Macy Lynn Lamar was held at the Neptune Apartments in Memphis, TN by persons unknown from the period approximately November 2, 1997 to November 20, 1997 and that at this time this case should be upgraded from missing person to child abduction. There are no leads on the present whereabouts of Macy Lynn Lamar generated from this incident investigation. |
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