Laura had tried leaving once before, but Rick found her at her sister’s house and brought them back.
Mia said he had threatened that if Laura ever tried again, no one would find her.
Then Ben mentioned a cabin.
Mia reluctantly explained that Rick had once taken them to a wooded property owned by his family.
Behind it was a deep hole.
Rick had made Ben stand near it while telling Laura that “accidents happen when people don’t listen.”
I immediately opened the audio recordings.
There were twenty-three.
In one, Rick laughed while saying:
“You think anyone will believe you instead of me?”
In another, he threatened that if Laura left again, the children would lose both parents.
The photos were even worse.
They showed visible injuries.
A bedroom door with a lock installed on the outside.
A handgun beneath the driver’s seat of Rick’s truck.
Rope, a shovel, and fuel containers in storage.
Then I found screenshots from Laura’s phone containing threatening messages.
The last photograph showed four names written on a sheet of paper.
Laura.
Mia.
Ben.
Rachel—Laura’s sister.
A date was written beside each one.
I called 911.
Police arrived quietly.
Detective Vasquez watched Mia’s video once and immediately requested a protective response.
Officers went next door.
No one answered.
Laura’s phone went straight to voicemail.
Then we heard faint knocking from the back of the house.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three more.
An officer ran around the side.
Minutes later, they found Laura locked inside the laundry room.
Her wrist had been secured to a pipe with a bicycle lock.
Rick had taken the key.
But the children were gone.
Laura’s face changed when she heard that.
“He found out.”
“Found out what?” Detective Vasquez asked.
“The copies.”
Then Laura revealed something none of us expected.
Mia and Ben had not made one flash drive.
They had made twelve.
