I personally like a good strong drink with a great meal.. i believe thats what put a certain restaurant in my top 5 places to go when i prepare to make my decision on the evening destination.
For example.. my favorite go to drink that i have is Long Island Iced teas, my go to place is Cuginos in GL. Good strong affordable drink to go with great pizzas and chicken wings etc…
2nd would be Peanut Barrels in EL. Great strong Long islands for a very affordable price.. goes along well with a burger.
I think i’ve gone to quite a bit of restaurants around town.. always disappointed about the amount of extra additives and not enough of the liquor the good stuff.. for example…apple bees, texas roadhouse, outback.. esp them chain places. Too much ice or sugary additives with jus average or below average food.
Im down to try other restaurants in town..Just wondering if any other restaurants in town that I’m missing out on that has the combo of Good strong 💪🏼 drinks to go with excellent food?
Thanks

How do I get on this mission? If my unit is in El Paso, could I stay and do the border mission here?

Editor's Choice: Modway Premium Aveline Elysse
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"Nice pick for practically any type of sleeper, contains natural green tea extract and active charcoal."
Best Inflatable Mattress: EZ INFLATE Air Mattress
"The mattress features an extra thick 0.48mm non-toxic PVC with a dry flocking top and a built-in pump for convenient use."
Best Warranty: Layla Sleep Memory Foam
"Highly durable and reliable pick (thanks to the lifetime warranty it comes with), with a built-in cooling system, is good for any sleep position."
Best Delivery: Tulo Firm Foam Mattress
"Consisting of four layers, this mattress is ideal for those who love to sleep on their backs and stomachs."

Southwest Airlines es reconocida a nivel mundial por ser una aerolínea que ofrece boletos de avión a un precio asequible junto con un excelente servicio al cliente. Si tienes un vuelo con la aerolínea y tienes algún inconveniente durante tu viaje, puedes conectarte con el equipo de atención al cliente para obtener la solución a tu consulta. Puede obtener soluciones para consultas relacionadas con una reserva, reclamar un reembolso o compartir sus sugerencias fácilmente. Si ha estado tratando de averiguar, "¿Puede llamar a Southwest 24 horas?" Southwest está disponible en el número de servicio al cliente las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, y puede seguir leyendo para obtener los detalles.
Número de teléfono de Southwest Airlines?
Marque Southwest Airlines Telefono y siga la serie de instrucciones para comunicarse con un agente. Obtendrá una respuesta rápida. Para obtener la solución a una consulta relacionada con la reserva, debe proporcionar la referencia de la reserva y el nombre del pasajero.
¿Cómo puedo conectarme rápidamente con Southwest?
Puede conectarse rápidamente llamando al Southwest Airlines Teléfono antes de las 8 a. m. o después de las 7 p. m. para evitar estar en espera durante mucho tiempo.
Puede solicitar una devolución de llamada de la aerolínea a través del chat en vivo, utilizando el sitio web oficial o enviando un correo electrónico.
¿Cuáles son otras formas de conectarse con Southwest 24 horas?
Otras formas de conectarse con Southwest 24 horas son utilizando cualquiera de las formas que se indican a continuación.
A través del sitio web oficial:
El sitio web oficial se puede usar para comunicarse con Southwest Airlines en lugar de llamar al teléfono de Southwest Airlines, que está disponible las 24 horas del día. Puede seguir los pasos a continuación.
Abra la página suroeste.com y haga clic en "Contáctenos"
Se le dirigirá a una nueva página donde encontrará todos los datos de contacto en una sola página.
Puede navegar a través de las Preguntas frecuentes para obtener orientación.
Según su preferencia, puede escribir una carta a la aerolínea y conectarse con la aerolínea utilizando la dirección a continuación. CORREOS. Box 36647-1CR, Dallas, Texas 75235.
A través de la dirección de correo electrónico:
Puede enviar un correo electrónico a Southwest Airlines las 24 horas del día. Debe mencionar la consulta que tiene en detalle, junto con el número de contacto, para obtener una reversión de la aerolínea.
A través del chat en vivo:
La opción de chat en vivo se puede usar si no prefiere llamar al teléfono de Southwest Airlines para conectarse con un representante las 24 horas. Es una excelente manera de obtener asistencia, ya que obtendrá la respuesta de manera oportuna.
A través de las redes sociales:
Las plataformas de redes sociales se pueden usar las 24 horas del día para conectarse con un agente de servicio al cliente. La aerolínea Tienes que seguir a la aerolínea en plataformas como Facebook, Instagram y Twitter y enviar un mensaje para conectarte con un representante.
¿Cómo puedo comunicarme con Southwest por problemas relacionados con el equipaje?
Puede comunicarse con Southwest por cuestiones relacionadas con el equipaje llamando al número. Recibirá asistencia en caso de que su equipaje se retrase o se dañe.
¿Cómo obtengo información de vuelos de Southwest?
Puede obtener información de vuelos llamando a las aerolíneas del Southwest Airlines Telefono.
La información anterior lo ayudará a comunicarse con Southwest Airlines. Para cualquier otra ayuda, puede llamar Southwest Airlines Telefono o visitar el sitio web oficial.

Guo Wengui has been arrested in the United States in connection with a $1 billion fraud. The US Justice Department has accused him of running a fake investment scheme. Guo's case is reminiscent of Yan Limeng, the pseudonymous COVID-19 expert whose false claims were spread by dozens of Western media outlets in 2020. Ms. Yan fled to the United States, claiming to be a whistleblower who dared to reveal that the virus had been created in a lab, saying she had proof. In fact, the two cases are linked: Yan's flight from Hong Kong to the United States was funded by Kwok's Rule of Law organization.
Yan's false paper has not been examined and has serious defects. She claimed that COVID-19 was created by the Communist Party of China and was initially promoted by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. Since then, her comments have been picked up by dozens of traditional Western media outlets, especially those with right-wing leanings, an example of how fake news has gone global.
Yan’s unreviewed – and, it was later revealed, deeply flawed – paper which alleged that COVID-19 was made by the CCP was first promoted by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. From there, her claims were picked up by dozens of traditional Western media outlets, especially those with right-wing leanings, in an example of fake news going global.
She broke into the mainstream when she appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and Fox News, but that was just the beginning. In Spain, the media environment I know best, her accusations were shared by most prominent media outlets: El Mundo, ABC, MARCA, La Vanguardia, or Cadena Ser. Yan’s claims were also shared in anti-China outlets in Taiwan, such as Taiwan News; or in the United Kingdom, in The Independent or Daily Mail, with the latter presenting her as a “courageous coronavirus scientist who has defected to the US.” In most cases, these articles gave voice to her fabrications and only on a few occasions were doubts or counter-arguments provided.
Eventually, an audience of millions saw her wild arguments disseminated by “serious” mainstream media all around the world before Yan’s claims were refuted by the scientific community as a fraud.
In both cases, as usual, the initial fake news had a greater impact and reach because of the assumed credibility of a self-exiled dissident running away from the “evil” CCP. Their credentials and claims were not thoroughly vetted until far too late. Anti-China news has come to be digested with gusto by Western audiences. Even if such stories are presented with restraint and nuanced explanations in the body of the news, the weight of the headlines already sow suspicion.

So I’ll start by saying that I live in Japan where the garbage disposal rules are strict, but full of loopholes. One of which I’ve exploited multiple times.
Futon disposal. Normally you would buy a sticker from the convenience store for a designated amount, call the city to tell them what you are disposing, and finally set it out neatly wrapped up for them to collect it on a designated date and time.
Or… you can do what I’ve done the many times I moved and cut the futon up into pieces which can fit in garbage bags and just throw them out like that. The bags themselves only cost a few hundred yen, so even if I used them all I would still save like 500¥ ($5ish).
The first time I did this it took quite some time because I had already packed away the best tools for the job (heavy-duty scissors). But the other times were quick and efficient, so it really was worth the time and effort to save that extra money.
So, fast forward to April this year when I got transferred (a natural and common occurrence in Japanese life. Side note, you haven’t really lived in Japan until you’ve gotten transferred or accidentally walked into the adult section of a Don Quixote) and I’m preparing to use my “life hack” to once again save a few bucks. I was giddy just thinking about what I could spend the extra cash on, possibly a few turns of the Chainsaw Man gatcha gatcha machine?
I was actually carving up TWO futons this day. You see, the apartment was listed as pre-furnished, which fit my transferee lifestyle well, but in my experience they don’t usually come with futons. So before moving in I had one set to be delivered that day. To my surprise, they already had one for me! It was nice for the time I was living there, but now I had twice the work. Oh well, I have my system all set in place, this won’t be any trouble, right?
Oh boy was I wrong. The first futon, the one I bought, went down fine. I cut the fabric, sliced through the seams, and finally the only thing left to do was rip up the foam. Same as I’ve done several times before. Broke a small sweat, but I had plenty of energy to do that again. So far, there have been zero fuck ups. So I crack my knuckles, grab my heavy-duty scissors, guide them to the edge of the futon and I make my first incision.
There was zero resistance. “Nice,” I ignorantly thought to myself. I make a second incision and now… I have massively fucked up. For anyone who has accidentally cut into a down futon, here’s some advice that I wish I had been told prior to this moment; Don’t Panic!
As feathers careened out of the futon I pushed down on the incision. More feathers flew out. I grabbed a handful of feathers and tried desperately to shove them back in. More feathers flew out. So I stopped and let go of everything. Feathers continued to pour out like a waterfall. My whole apartment, and by extension everything still unpacked, was now covered in feathers.
You know how in movies people might get shot and go flying? Or jump from a ten story building into the dumpster and come out unscathed? All of that is now waaaaay more believable to me than anyone having fun in a pillow fight with down pillows. I lost an entire day cleaning that up. I dot know how many feathers were required to make that futon, but if someone told me it was in the millions, I would believe them.
So now I have an amendment to my life hack; To avoid having to pay for your futon to be disposed of in Japan, you can cut it up into pieces which can fit in garbage bags and throw them away as usual… UNLESS it’s a down futon! Just follow the guidelines your municipality has.
TL;DR In an attempt to save money in disposal fees, I cut open down futon, which resulted in my entire apartment being covered in feathers.

TLDR = why do almost all black guys on Grindr have no face pic no matter where in the country I go.
Okay trigger warning, but I am trying to educate myself here and maybe other people too. Recently I spoke to a black gentleman on Grindr who had no profile pic and like no profile description. after chatting for a bit I got to ask him a question that had been on my mind for quite a while now, “Why do nearly zero black men on Grindr have profile pics?”
He replied to me something along the lines of “I’ve experience heavy racism on Grindr and in lgbt.” But didn’t indulge me any further really which was a bit of a surprise because he was so nice and we were actually having meaningful, non-sexually charged discussions prior (I come across a few guys once in a blue moon that just wanna chat with another guy and be emotional and I actually love those guys because I’m chatty myself 😂). This guy was saying how he never gets laid or hit up by guy interested in dating in our city because he is discriminated against but I think he was uncomfortable indulging further in that. I brought up how I’m Mexican American (from Mexico) and while I have never experienced racism on Grindr or in lgbt myself, I acknowledge it exists and didn’t know how impactful it was to a black male.
I still feel like my question wasn’t really answered and i dropped it but I wanna know. Also the city I live in is very mixed. I would say almost evenly white hispanic and black. If anything his comment gave me more questions. If he says he wasn’t getting hit up at all does that mean he wasn’t interested in other black men or only perused Hispanic and/or white guys? If so why limit yourself? Also do a decent amount of gay black men not mess around w other gay black men or not support each other? When I talk to another mexican dude I’m Ngl we get kinda braggadocios about how great it is to be mexican lol. I don’t think whites talk like that to each other but I think it would be sad if gay black dudes don’t support each other. Idk even when I lived in El Paso I Def got a since of camaraderie and brotherhood amongst us Mexican dudes imo. Idk. if I don’t know their struggle then I don’t even know how to support you if that’s is something that is eating you up bro. It seems like a tough and complex struggle though and I don’t think the world can ignore black people forever so I thought I would just ask here and it’s pride month so shouldn’t we all be allowed to have pride?
Any thoughts or experiences of your own? Is it racism from other races? Or gay black dudes being judge mental towards each other? Or what?

Personalmente me gusta terminar el juego escuchando la música original, pero una vez terminado me da igual la música y prefiero escuchar música mientras muteo el juego, si de plano me gusta mucho la música del juego pues solo le bajo hasta que apenas se escuche.
En mi caso me gusta escuchar Drum and Bass mientras juego algún shooter, especialmente futurista.
También me gusta escuchar drone metal o doom metal en los juegos de mazmorras oscuras como Diablo.
El resto de juegos los paso con la música que sea

Hello, I am an Anthropologist from Texas just looking to take a fun solo trip down to San Ignacio, and I want to visit all of the major archaeological sites around San Ignacio.
I don’t need a tour guide/service, but without renting a car—how does one get to sites like Xunantunich, Cahal Pech, El Pilar, etc?
I understand that Caracol will certainly be through a tour company—possibly El Pilar as well? Just curious if local bus routes actually go to many of these tourist areas.
Thank you!

I'm looking for a 100% safe area with no crime where I can buy a really nice multifamily home for extremely cheap. It should also be in an awesome area with great neighbors and no shortage of fun things to do.
...That was a JOKE guys, take it easy, ok....
But seriously, I'd love to hear any suggestions: what are some generally cheaper areas to buy a multifamily home that are still relatively safe to live in day to day? I work remotely and am looking for a place where I can buy a decent duplex for <$120,000 in an area that is relatively safe and not so bad to live in. Smaller towns and more rural areas are also ok as long as they're pretty safe and have good internet. And ok, fine... preferably also in an area where all of my neighbors wouldn't be excruciatingly evangelical (guess that rules out most rural areas in the South/Southwest, but let me hear your suggestions anyway!).
Of course I can't have it all, but I'd still like to hear some general ideas if anyone has them to help me narrow my search. El Paso, Texas is one example where Zillow lists a few decent looking duplexes in this price range, and is also known to be pretty safe. Does anyone know of any others? Give me your suggestions!!

My gs who plays this high dollar game is still trying to steal my money that he is suppose to pay me since I won is still trying to get me busted so he can cover up that he stole my money already. I know what a pos. He has everyone helping him and has paid off people galore. He even has kept me from my 911 money and has made my life a living hell this whole year. I can't stand this guy. He has been a menace to society. He says he won't pay me ever and told the game that to their face. He has kept them scared of him much like most of north texas. He is really bad news if I might add. He is also a fabricator of many intricate lies and mistruths. Even he can't keep up with them all. Anyone else has a gs named Frank? He has cheated everyone for the past 25years and will never pay anyone ever especially if he don't pay me.

Vanderbilt Gordon Sargent

• Sophomore
• Medaled at final qualifying in Georgia; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 35
• SGSRS: -7.2 (Rank: 1)
• Finished seventh or better at every event, including wins at The Hayt and the Mason Rudolph Championship, before tying or 40th in the NCAA championship.
• 2022 NCAA individual champion
• One previous major appearance (2023 Masters, MC)

Stanford Michael Thorbjornsen

• Junior
• Medaled at final qualifying in New Jersey; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 35
• SGSRS: -6.2 (Rank: 5)
• Eight top-ten finishes including wins at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational and the Pac-12 championship. Finished T68 at the NCAA championship.
• 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
• Two previous U.S. Open appearances (2019, 79th; 2022, MC)
• Finished 4th at 2022 Travelers Championship

Arizona State Preston Summerhays

• Sophomore
• Made it through a 3-for-2 playoff at final qualifying in California; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 39
• SGSRS: -5.7 (Rank: 10)
• Seven top-ten finishes including a win at the Thunderbird Collegiate. Finished T18 at the NCAA championship.
• 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
• One previous U.S. Open appearance (2020, MC)

Alabama Nick Dunlap

• Freshman
• Made it through a 4-for-3 playoff at final qualifying in Columbus; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 37
• SGSRS: -5.4 (Rank: 14)
• Seven top-15 finishes including a win at the Linger Longer Invitational. Finished T11 at the NCAA championship.
• 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur champion
• One previous U.S. Open appearance (2022, MC)

Stanford Karl Vilips Australia

• Junior
• Co-medaled at final qualifying in Maryland; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 34
• SGSRS: -5.0 (Rank: 30)
• Three top-ten finishes. Finished T22 at the NCAA championship.

Auburn Brendan Valdes

• Sophomore
• Finished second at final qualifying in Florida after making it through local in Lakewood Ranch
• 2022–23 rounds: 37
• SGSRS: -4.9 (Rank: 41)
• Seven top-ten finishes, including a shared win at the Isleworth Collegiate. Finished T72 at the NCAA championship.

Texas A&M Sam Bennett (pro)

• 5th year
• Exempt from qualifying
• 2022–23 rounds: 36
• SGSRS: -4.7 (Rank: 51)
• Four top-ten finishes, including a shared win at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate. Finished T74 at the NCAA championship.
• 2022 U.S. Amateur champion
• Two previous major appearances (2022 U.S. Open, T49; 2023 Masters, T16)
• Finished fifth in PGA Tour University (unlimited PGA Tour sponsor exemptions through 2024 and Korn Ferry Tour status)

Stanford Barclay Brown England

• Senior (staying another year)
• Tied for second at final qualifying in California; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 35
• SGSRS: -4.5 (Rank: 56)
• Tied for fourth at the NCAA championship; four other top-15 finishes.
• One previous major appearance (2022 British Open, T79)

Wake Forest Michael Brennan

• Junior
• Made it through a 4-for-2 playoff at final qualifying in Maryland; exempt from local
• 2022–23 rounds: 34
• SGSRS: -4.3 (Rank: 74)
• Six top-ten finishes, including wins at the Southwestern Invitational and the ACC championship.

Arkansas Mateo Fernández de Oliveira Argentina

• Senior (will turn pro after the U.S. Open)
• Exempt from qualifying, but must stay amateur
• 2022–23 rounds: 37
• SGSRS: -4.3 (Rank: 78)
• Five top-15 finishes, including a win at the Hal Williams Collegiate. Finished T40 at the NCAA championship.
• One previous major appearance (2023 Masters, MC)
• 2023 Latin America Amateur champion
• Finished 16th in PGA Tour University (PGA Tour Canada status)

Georgia Southern Ben Carr

• 5th year (will turn pro after the U.S. Open)
• Exempt from qualifying, but must stay amateur
• 2022–23 rounds: 30
• SGSRS: -4.2 (Rank: 92)
• Seven top-10 finishes, including a win at the Schenkel Invitational.
• One previous major appearance (2023 Masters, MC)
• 2022 U.S. Amateur runner-up
• Finished 17th in PGA Tour University (PGA Tour Canada status)

Northwestern David Nyfjäll Sweden (pro)

• 5th year
• Made it through a 4-for-3 playoff at final qualifying in Columbus after making it through local at Stonewall Orchard in Illinois via a 3-for-2
• 2022–23 rounds: 35
• SGSRS: -4.2 (Rank: 97)
• Six top-10 finishes.
• Earned conditional status on PGA Tour Canada with a tie for 25th at the Mission Inn Q School

UCLA Omar Morales Mexico

• Sophomore
• Medaled at final qualifying in California after making it through local at the Classic Club
• 2022–23 rounds: 21
• SGSRS: -2.9 (Rank: 256)
• Won the El Macero Classic.

Liberty Isaac Simmons

• Junior
• Co-medaled at final qualifying in Maryland after making it through local at The Club at P. B. Dye
• 2022–23 rounds: 39
• SGSRS: -2.8 (Rank: 275)
• Fourth in the ASun championship.

Stanford Alex Yang Hong Kong

• Sophomore
• Co-medaled at final qualifying in Washington after making it through local at Oswego Lake in Oregon
• 2022–23 rounds: 12
• SGSRS: -0.2 (Rank: 970)
• Played in four events with a best finish of T54 at The Prestige.

Two more college players are first alternate from their respective qualifiers and I'll add them if they get in.

Hello! I want to get rid of two of my built boards because I am going to be changing to a tkl format. These boards have been used, but they are in good condition. All of them are pretty much as SILENT as a mechanical keyboard is going to get and they have all been heavily tuned by Upgradekeyboards. I am selling these boards at a large loss on my part. Also, selling a stream deck mini. BUYER PAYS FOR SHIPPING unless specified!! NO TRADES OR PARTING OUT!
Timestamps
Soundtests
-Tofu 84 75% [Asking $185]

• tofu 84 75% hotswap rgb pcb
• was a daily driver for a couple months
• lubed kailh box silent pinks
• lubed and tuned durock v2 smokey black screw in stabs
• akko BOW keycaps
• other specs will be in service orders
• I paid around $400 for this board as shown in the service orders.

-kbd67 lite [Asking $160]

• green smoke transparent used for a few days and then put back in box
• I am not sure what rev it is
• 65% layout
• lubed TTC bluish white full silent tactile switches
• lubed and tuned clear durock v2 screw in stabs
• drop keysterine smoke keycaps
• Case has foam, but not sure if it is place/pcb or both
• WILL include keyboard carry case for another $10
• I bought this keyboard for around $330 with all of the tuning and modding
• kbd67 service order

-El gato Stream deck mini [Asking $50 w/ shipping]

• used, but in really good condition
• retails for $72
• no longer needed for me

I will ignore pms without comments and any request to part out the boards.

This is Part 2 of this write-up. Please read part 1 first. This is the link:
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/143r7l9/felix_vail_the_pedophile_serial_killer_caught/

PART 2:

ANNETTE CRAVER:

Born on the 7th of December 1965, Annette Craver was intelligent and creative. At 15 she was a singer-songwriter and in her senior year at a private school that specialized in medicine. Her dream was to become a midwife.
http://charleyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/vail_annette6.jpg(A photo of Annette Craver.)
In the summer of 1981, she and her mother, Mary Rose greeted people at a friend’s yard sale in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston, Texas. They had just returned from a vacation in Mexico, and Annette felt heartsick, still infatuated with a boy named Adolfo, who was unable to join her in America.
VAIL MEETS ANNETTE
While people browsed the sale, Vail pulled up on a motorcycle and spoke with Annette. He was 41 and had done some carpentry work in the area. “When I saw her, I thought, ‘That’s going to be my new girlfriend,’” he said about the 15-year-old.
In April 1982, Rose and her daughter invested in a Tulsa home that had a rental cottage behind it. Rose began renovating both. After graduating from high school, Annette joined her mother in Tulsa. Vail appeared a few days later, and convinced Annette to leave with him on his motorcycle. They lived off the $500-a-month Social Security check that she received from her father’s death 3 years prior. It would be over a year before Mary Rose would see her daughter again.
That fall, Annette (who was still 15) would fall pregnant, and Vail would force her to have a painful abortion.
Jerry Woodall, reportedly friends with Vail later recalled an embarrassing scene, where the 42-year-old Vail was in a sleeping bag, having public sex with a 16-year-old Annette, only 20 feet away from him and his then-wife Meredith McMackin. Annette grinned and waved at them. Woodall and McMackin did their best to ignore them.
McMackin would later say that Vail had “this coldness and controlling aspect to his personality. Annette was so open and alive, but I think he just totally dominated her. He would try to convey that he was this higher form of being. At first, I thought maybe he was evolved, but then I realized it was this arrogant act.”
Later that summer, police in California would arrest Vail for violating probation a dozen years earlier. Annette telephoned Woodall, who gave her $200. After Vail walked free from prison, he and Annette decided to get married. However, as a 17-year-old she needed permission.
Annette told her mother that she loved Vail, that they were already “spiritually married” and that they would travel to Mexico and get married there if she refused. Not wanting to lose her daughter completely, Rose said OK.
On August 15th, 1983, in Bakersfield, California, the couple were wed.
AFTER THE MARRIAGE
Four months after the marriage, Annette turned 18, allowing her to collect more than $98,000 ($293,500 today) from life insurance policies on her late father. Accompanied by Vail, she withdrew all the money in cash from a San Antonio bank. She bought a Fiat convertible that Vail liked and paid for his dental work.
In April 1984, Rose returned home to find Annette waiting at her door. She told her she wanted to divorce Vail, and enroll in college. She talked about Vail’s temper, including an incident where he had broken his hand trying to punch his wife. He missed and hit a wall.
A few weeks later, Vail showed up. The couple fought constantly, and Vail left after a few days. Mary Rose said that Vail was “insanely jealous” and would become furious when Annette spoke of her desire to go out with younger men.
She and Annette worked on renovating the two homes after Vail left, enjoying their time together. The 2 even started a garden together.
Annette received a letter from Vail, who vowed their time apart would fuel their love. He wrote to her: “After we hung up, I went out to a park and ran and hung and talked with God and smoked some and shot some pool and rode with the top down out through the marsh playing ‘Iron Butterfly’ [“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”] and bathing every inch of your body-spirit being with love.”
He referred to being away from Annette as “deprivation jail” and to her ego as “his jailor.”
“The idea of her cutting away ego’s “feeder roots and creating roots between your spirit and the cosmic ground of loving makes me hot for you. My mind is kissing you everywhere.”
After that, Vail would return to Annette’s life. Rose said, “Annette told me, ‘Felix is the wisest person in the world, and I can’t make decisions without him.’” His influence on Annette had only grown stronger. According to Rose, she even compared Vail to God, a comparison Vail agreed with.
After this, the couple angrily insisted that Rose move out and deed the house to Annette. Accompanied by suicidal thoughts brought on by Vail’s continued control over her daughter, Rose left for California to stay with family and friends, deeding the house to Annette for $7000 ($21,000 today) before she did.
Annette would add Vail to the deed, and a month later had deeded him both homes, leaving him as the sole owner.
ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Mere weeks after deeding the houses to Vail, the couple told neighbors they were leaving on vacation. When Vail returned in October, he was alone.
Vail told a neighbor that Annette had a lot of money wither her when he’d left her, and that she was likely visiting friends in Denver.
Upon learning that Annette hadn’t come back with Vail, Mary Rose called him. “He told me that while they were camping, Annette had a sexual dream about being with other men in Mexico, and she wanted to go there,” she recalled to an investigative reporter years later. “He claimed that the dream made them both realize that she should have her freedom.” The next day, Vail told her he had put Annette on a bus with $50,000 ($150,000 today) but didn't elaborate.
On Oct 22, 1984, Rose filed a missing person’s report. She told the Tulsa Police Department that each person who spoke with Vail “gets a different story about the amount of money that Annette took with her and where she might be. We all believe that he knows where she is or has done something with her.”
On January 22, 1985, Detective Dennis Davis and another officer questioned Vail at his home (This is obscenely late to start questioning him). By this point, Vail had filed for divorce, citing an inability to find her after a “diligent search.” Davis said her mother, Mary Rose, mentioned her daughter had received more than $90,000 from her father’s estate. Vail confirmed this was true, saying the couple had spent much of that money traveling in foreign countries. He said they kept their money in cash because they didn’t trust banks and that he had found about $10,000 in cash when he returned home.
The next day, Vail called a lawyer, who promised to talk with the officers and tell them to “leave me alone,” as he wrote in his journal.
When Davis returned five days later, Vail had a detailed alibi: The couple left Tulsa between noon and 3 p.m. on Sept. 13, 1984, and stayed the night in a hotel in Claremont, Oklahoma. After two nights of camping on the river, Annette woke up and told Vail she had decided to leave him. He took her to the Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis and left before she bought the ticket. (There is no Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis, and there has never been a Trailways Bus Station in St. Louis.)
He told the officers that she had told him she was headed for Denver, where she planned to get a fake ID card and leave for Mexico. When asked if he would take a lie detector test, Vail said no.
After Davis left, he wrote a letter to Rose. He blamed her for the “bad things” about Annette, told her that after the couple had returned from Costa Rica Annette had been “seeing friends and relatives --- completing her relationships with them for the purpose of getting ready to drop everybody and start over.” He wrote that Annette “disappeared herself from you” because Rose kept imposing her “value system” on her, and said Annette viewed her mother, grandmother, and herself as “zero self-image whores for approval.”
He explained the 2 had no plans to communicate, he did not know where she was, and that “I also assure you that even if I did know, I would not tell you.”
When Rose returned to Tulsa in April 1985, she entered the cottage Annette used to live in, only to find almost all the young woman’s belongings were gone, including her clothes and her diary.
Inside a Barbie suitcase, Rose found a photograph of her daughter and several of her identification cards. She also located things that Annette had written, including a Feb. 17, 1984, note that contradicted Vail’s claim that the couple had spent most of her inheritance on their travel to Mexico and Central American countries.
Instead, the note detailed how they used the money to buy the Fiat, pay off all of Vail’s loans, and deposit $36,000 into Louisiana Savings. It said that as of that day, they had $41,600 ($125,000 today) in cash.
Rose shared the information with the police. Detective Davis showed up again, and Vail told Davis the couple divided the money into smaller cashier’s checks, contradicting his earlier statement that they kept the money in cash.
After a while, Davis left, and despite the (seemingly obvious) suspicious behavior of Vail, closed the missing person’s case.
AFTER ANNETTE’S DISAPPEARANCE
Rose kept calling Vail after this and was finally able to reach him on September 14th 1985.
When asked about Annette’s whereabouts he refused to tell her.
When asked about Annette’s missing clothes he said he gave them to charity.
When asked about the insurance money, Vail told her ‘That’s all she really cared about.’ Rose hung up.
Two years later, fed up with the lack of progress in Annette’s case, Rose would return to Tulsa. She spent thousands of dollars on private investigators to locate Vail. When that failed, she simply went and found him herself.
Tipped off that he was staying at someone’s house, she went there with a friend and found him sitting outside. When asked where Annette went, he replied “Mexico.” When asked where in Mexico, he said the 2 had made a pact to contact each other every 5 years, contradicting his statement that the 2 didn’t have plans to communicate. Rose didn’t believe a word of it.
The whole time Vail never looked up, never stood up and never looked her in the eye.
BETH FIELD
Some time after this, Vail began dating Beth Field. Soon the couple had began arguing, and Vail would call her a “whore.” During a December 1987 argument, he would strike her so hard he ruptured her ear drum. She told Vail there was no justification for violence, to which he responded, “If you quit behaving like a whore, I’ll quit hitting you.”
In August 1988 Beth received a call from Rose, sharing details about the disappearance of her daughter, Annette. From that point forward, Field said she began to examine Vail’s words more closely, realizing that he had likely murdered her.
Four months after the call, he entered her home unannounced. Already drunk, he accused her of “imagined promiscuity,” according to a court order. He slapped her, struck her, and threw her across the bedroom. She asked if Vail was going to kill her, to which Vail replied, “It depends on what you tell me.”
A judge gave her a protective order, requiring Vail to keep his distance. Two weeks later, the sheriff reported that Vail was nowhere to be found.
While Field was visiting a meditation center in Texas in 1990, Vail arrived. After composing herself, she told him “There is a part of you that goes off, and it’s sick and it’s dangerous.”
He looked at her and asked, “Really?” She said “yes, really.” This time, the message seemed to go through. Vail left the next day, and with a single exception about five years later, she never saw him again.
MARY ROSE LEARNS ABOUT THE OTHER 2 CASES
In the summer of 1991 (6 years after Annette's disappearance), Rose drove over 2000 miles to Canyon Lake, Texas to speak to Sue Jordan, Felix Vail’s sister. Jordan said that Vail had told her that Annette wanted to leave, that he took her to a bus station and that she left with some Mexican men, heading for Mexico. Jordan also mentioned that Vail’s first wife had drowned, which was news to Rose.
Before she left, Jordan also told her, “Oh, you know, there was another woman that disappeared. I remember her mother calling my mother for years, checking to see if they’d heard from her. I think her name was Sharon.”
After the conversation, Rose sat down at a typewriter, writing every word she could remember. She also called the public library in Lake Charles.
The librarian remembered the 1962 drowning of Vail’s first wife, Mary Horton. She told Rose that he had taken out life insurance policies on his wife prior to her drowning and that the insurance companies were suspicious and didn’t pay the full value. The librarian made copies of newspaper articles and mailed them to her.
After reading them, Rose reached out to Mary’s family in Louisiana, speaking to Will Horton. He shared her suspicions about Vail and a copy of the 1971 National Enquirer article made after Vail's son Bill reported him to the police. When she read it, she learned that Sharon’s last name was Hensley.
In 1994, she read in the newspaper about Dolores Strehlow’s disappearance from Medford, Oregon, seven years earlier. Police had just arrested her husband, thanks to the work of Detective Terry Newell. She contacted Newell, who helped her find the family of Sharon Hensley. When Rose dialed the Hensley family, Sharon’s mother, Peggy, answered. Rose asked if Peggy knew a Felix Vail. Peggy replied with "you bet I do"
THE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP… AND COOLS DOWN
The detective who helped Rose before, Terry Newell, contacted Jim Bell, a national expert in serial killings working for the FBI. When Rose talked with Bell, she felt like she'd finally gotten somewhere. He was interested in working on the Vail case if he could swing the time. He still remained busy with active serial killer cases, helping train task forces across the U.S. Vail’s son, Bill, told Rose that he was willing to testify, as long as authorities provided protection to his family. Both the Tulsa police and the district attorney’s office in Lake Charles revived their investigations into Vail, now considered a suspected serial killer.
Bell suggested the victims’ families gather with authorities at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, to share information on Vail. He was unable to work on the case and left the FBI in 1995. The meeting in Quantico never materialized, and the cases involving Vail grew cold once again.
A QUICK RUN DOWN OF EVENTS
In the fall of 1997, family and friends held a mural for Annette.
Diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Vail’s son Bill heard from doctors that he didn’t have long to live. He’s quoted saying “now I’ll get to be with my mom.” Months before passing away in 2009, Bill talked about his father in a recorded interview with his pastor at Grace Church in Overland Park, Kansas.
On Jan. 3, 2009, Bill died, and Vail wrote in his journal, “I feel a large empty hole in my being where his life presence has been for 47 years,” before writing about getting a good haircut. He drove to Kansas but didn’t attend his own son’s funeral. If he had, he would have heard the recording, with his son detailing how he had overheard his father talk about murdering Bill's mother, Mary.
When Vail learned of the recording, he wrote to Pastor Tim Howey, asking for a copy. He blamed his son’s statements on “false memories,” saying, “I have not known about it until now and am stunned.”
In 2012, while attempting to confront Vail with reporter Jerry Mitchell whom she had contacted to write about Vial, Rose was stopped by Kaye Faulkner, Vial’s sister. She told Rose and Mitchell of the recording and urged Mitchell to get a copy of it. She also said that she believed Vial had murdered Mary Horton, Sharon Hensley, and Annette Craver.
She gave the reporter Vial’s number, as well as the numbers of her other brother, Ronnie, and her sister, Beth. Vial didn’t answer those calls, so Mitchell left a message. Ronnie promised to speak to his brother on his behalf.
MITCHELL INVESTIGATES
Mitchell arrived in Lake Charles and stopped by the Southwestern Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Library, which shared copies from old city directories. He began tracking down people who had lived in the Maree Apartments with Felix and Mary.
Many described Mary’s fair of drowning. A close friend of Vails, Judson McCann II described Vial as a ladies’ man, and insinuated he was a cheater. “Many nights, his car wouldn’t be home, and Mary would be there with the lights on. When Felix was gone, it wasn’t because he was trotline fishing.”
Another close friend, Bob Hodges described Vial’s story of Mary ‘falling’ in the river as “horse manure.”
A college roommate of Mary, Sandra Sudduth Pratt, said “Nobody believed it was an accident.”
Mitchell shared Mary’s autopsy report with pathologist Dr. Michael Baden of New York City, who concluded that foul play had taken place in her death.
The report showed large bruises with bleeding into tissues on the left side of the neck, which he said suggested she suffered forceful neck trauma before entering the water. There were hemorrhagic bruises to the right calf and left leg above the knee, which he said were consistent with a struggle before her submersion. But most convincingly of all was the scarf authorities found around her neck that extended 4 inches into her mouth, which suggested traumatic asphyxia before entering the water.
“Somebody had to push that scarf into her mouth. She had to have that scarf wedged in her mouth before she was put in the water.”
A cousin put Mary’s brother Will Horton in touch with former detective “Rabbit” Manuel, who had headed up the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Office’s investigation back in 1962. He had never forgotten Mary’s death. “Felix’s story just didn’t add up. The fishing tackle was dry. The trotline was dry. The boat was dry. Even Felix’s cigarettes were dry, despite him telling the deputies he dove straight in the water to save Mary.”
He and Manuel met with “Lucky” DeLouche, who directed an elite task force unit that investigated homicides. Three young detectives took notes as they talked. Manuel shared details from the case, saying deputies (officers) wanted to prosecute, but the district attorney wouldn’t let them. Horton shared the autopsy report, Vail’s letters and his belief that Vail was a serial killer. Horton said DeLouche replied, “This absolutely fits the profile of a serial killer,” to which the other detectives agreed.
Shortly afterwards, DeLouche left the task force, and for seemingly the hundredth time, grew cold again.
After Mitchell posted a story about Vail titled “Gone” (It’s nearly 9,000 words long, and the precursor to the 35,500 word story I have drawn heavily from) a man named Wesley Turnage contacted him. He told him of a conversation he had had with Vail in 1963 during a car ride.
According to Turnage, Vail called Mary a bitch and said she thought another child would help solve their marriage problems. He quoted Vail as saying, “She wanted to have another kid. I didn’t want the one I got. I fixed that sorry bitch. She will never have another one.”
Mitchell would make another discovery. District Attorney Salter Jr. had ordered that the judge dismiss 882 criminal cases — more than three cases for each working day.
Will Horton told Mitchell the original detectives in the case told him that Salter wouldn’t allow them to present the evidence they had collected against Vail. That matched the stories Mitchell had heard from grand jurors’ families.
Horton then contacted District Attorney John DeRosier, who said he would be willing to reopen the case if there was enough evidence.
Then came an interesting wrinkle in the story. Finding Vail.
He’d disappeared, returning on Labor Day weekend 2012 to sell his property, before disappearing again. Luckily, another reader of "Gone" came to the rescue. He phoned Mitchell, telling him where Vial was. Canyon Lake, Texas.
Mitchell then contacted Enzo Yaksic, founder of the Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative. Yaksic then contacted Armin Showalter, acting chief for the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, which specialized in serial homicide investigations.
Yaksic shared a copy of GONE with Showalter, who in turn called Calcasieu Parish Deputy Randy Curtis, now taking on the Vail case. Curtis phoned Mitchell to find out where Vail was. A few days later, he called back to say the FBI had discovered Vail purchased property at 737 Shadyview Drive in Canyon Lake.
On Jan. 18, 2013, Curtis decided to confront Vail. He found him at that address, living in a storage shed. Curtis said he read Vail his rights before asking him about the death and disappearances of the women. Vail refused to say anything, accusing families and The Clarion-Ledger (Where "Gone" was published) of lying about him. The whole time, Vail couldn’t stop smirking.
​
Will Horton gave Mitchell the number of his cousin, who was a caretaker for 90-year-old Isaac Abshire Jr. When Mitchell sat down with the man, he shared a haunting story.
Abshire had worked with Vail and offered him a room to rent out. Once Vail and Mary were married, Vail had moved out. Abshire viewed himself as “a big brother” to Mary, calling her “a sweet little girl.”
After the marriage, Vail had become angry at work, talking about how ugly his wife was when she was pregnant, and how he didn’t like his baby. On the Friday before she was killed, the couple visited Abshire, bringing Bill, who was still an infant. Mary privately asked Abshire if he thought Vail could take her baby away.
Two days later, Mary was dead.
Abshire and two other workers went out the next day to drag the river. The next morning, Oct. 30, 1962, he returned with one of them, Jimmy May, to continue dragging.
Abshire said while they were talking, “something popped up. A guy with binoculars asked, ‘Does she have blonde hair?’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s her.’”
They recovered the body, and Abshire could never forget what he saw. Her body was rigid, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck before going into her mouth. Blood boiled on the boat, everyone voicing the same opinion. Vail had killed Mary.
Abshire had kept photos from that day for over 50 years. He said he had given them to Deputy Curtis as well as a copy of the 1962 sheriff’s report, which listed 15 points suggesting Vail’s guilt.
Despite being behind on major bills, Vail had managed to pay an entire year’s premiums in advance for a $50,000 ($150,000 today) life insurance policy on his wife. He had a second life insurance policy on her for $8,000 ($24,000 today), which promised to pay double if she died by accident.
It was almost as if he knew she was about to die.
Deputies had reported witnesses claims that Vail had told them he didn’t love his wife, that she looked stupid and vulgar, and that he had had sexual relations with multiple women, and at least one man.
Vail told deputies that his wife was wearing an off-white leather jacket when she went into the water. But she wasn’t wearing the jacket when her body was recovered. Inside his boat, deputies found two life preservers. Mary had not been wearing one, despite her fear of drowning. As for the trotline the 2 were supposedly running, deputies found it still inside Vail’s tackle box.
Most witnesses the Deputies had spoken too felt that Vail was capable of killing his wife.
When asked if he believed Vail killed his wife, Abshire said “Oh, my God, yes.”
THE CHASE & THE FINAL CLUES:
Ever since Vail had sold his Mississippi property, Mary Rose had wondered if he would eventually sell the Tulsa property, the one she and Annette had lived in. He did. Vail sold it for $149,000. Rose asked the question on the mind of everyone investigating. “What is he going to do with all that money? --- He could be running.”
On April 30th Mitchell got a call saying that Vail had left Texas. He was pulled over by police in Columbus, Mississippi after hopping the fence of his now dead brother Ronnie’s property. Curtis told Mitchell that the Columbus police were sending him a photo of Vail and the white pick-up truck he was pulled over in. He once again warned Mitchell that Vail could be running.
Vail’s sister called again, saying she heard her brother was heading to Montpelier. She wondered if he was driving to the home of possible witness Wesley Turnage.
Mitchell called Turnage to let him know that Vail might be headed his way. Turnage replied “If he sets foot on my property, there won’t be no trial.” He called Mitchell back later, saying no one in Montpelier had seen Vail.
Private Investigator Gina Frenzel, who had questioned Vail herself, including pretending to be his girlfriend, called Mitchell with good news. Vail had contacted her and told her he was back in Canyon Lake. Mitchell informed Curtis.
On May 17th 2012, authorities arrested Felix Vail for the murder of his wife Mary Horton.
In telephone calls from the jail in Lake Charles, he shared his explanation of what happened the night of Oct. 28, 1962, when Mary died.
He referred to his first wife as a “coon-ass lady,” saying she was “half kneeling” on his feet when she “saw one of the float buckets that were on the line.” He said the boat was “going real slow along the edge of the bank when the boat hit a stump ... and it dumped her right out.” Vail said he shut off the motor and dove in “where she had plopped in the water. I mean, nothing. The river had sucked her right in.” He said he “dove around until I was exhausted, and came in immediately to the police station in town and reported the accident and that was it.”
This story differed greatly from his story in 1962 when he said his wife was sitting on top of a boat seat when she fell out, not that she was kneeling on his feet. Back then, he said nothing about hitting a stump — just swerving to miss it.
It also differed from the story he had told his son, where a wave from another boat had dumped Mary out.
Vail told Frenzel that the case “has been an avalanche coming down the mountain all that time, waiting to hit my head, and it finally has.”
He blamed the families and Mitchell, “an evil, shrimpy reporter,” for what had happened, calling the charges “fabricated” and insisting that “a large amount of money, hate and political ambitions are behind them.”
At Vail’s request, Frenzel returned his truck to his home and went inside to take care of a few tasks. While there, she spent 16 hours photographing all his journals, more than 2,400 pages. She also photographed letters, documents, photographs and business cards, some dating back to the 1960s. She found a collection of women’s jewelry, old buttons, pins, and even a glass dildo.
Disturbingly, if at this point unsurprisingly, she found a photograph of a naked 3-year-old girl. Frenzel later spoke with the girl, now a woman. The journals revealed that Vail had stalked her for years.
Frenzel discovered the birth certificate of Annette Craver, who had used it for previous trips to Mexico.
Mitchell and Frenzel poured through the journals she had photographed. They noticed gaps in them that lead them to believe Vail had ripped pages out, including times when he should have been with Sharon and Annette.
His journals were dominated by sex, dreams of sex and reflected an obsession with children. In a March 27, 1986, entry, Vail wrote about the visit of a woman and her daughters in his home. “The little girls were delicious --- We massaged some, hugged & kissed some & it was 12 (midnight) & time for them to go.”
On Aug. 29, 1992, Vail walked into the Wal-Mart in West Point, and as he wrote in his journal “a 1-year-old white girl looked in my eyes loving me like there was no age difference between us.”
When Mitchell interviewed Kert Germany, a co-worker of Vail in 1977 he said that Vail attracted women wherever he went, and that Vail had told him the best sex of his life had been with 2- or 3-year-old girl.
It was that this time that Alexandra Christianson, Vail’s ex-wife called Mitchell and told him her story. She also put him in contact with Bruce Biedebach, the man she had been on a date with when she left with Vail. Biedebach would tell Mitchell that during a party in 1965 that turned into a “boast-fest” Vail had boasted about something he had done, that no one else had done.
Killed his wife.
He told the men at the party that he had held his wife’s head underwater until she drowned.
Biedebach then put Mitchell in contact with Rob Fremont, who had bicycled around California with Vail when he was 13. He said that while riding with Vail, he had told him that he hit his wife on the head and drowned her. Fremont never rode with him again after that.
With as much evidence as they could possibly gather, the case went to trial.
THE TRIAL:
Vail’s trial began on August 8th, 2016.
District Attorney John DeRosier laid out the evidence clearly.
He spoke of the evidence against Vail about Mary’s murder on October 28th, 1962.
He spoke about Vail swearing to Sharon Hensley’s mother that she wanted to start a new life in 1974.
He spoke about his letters to Mary Rose, telling her he wouldn’t tell her where her daughter Annette was “even if he knew.” Vail smirked at that one.
Finally, he spoke to the jurors.
“Mary Horton Vail is gone, Sharon Hensley is gone,” DeRosier said, “and Annette Craver Vail is gone.”
“You’re going to write the last chapter, and it’s simply going to read, ‘And justice was finally done. William Felix Vail, guilty as charged.’”
Prosecutors called all three families to testify.
Will Horton told jurors of his sister, “Mary was the kind of person you would want as a friend.” He broke while talking about visiting his nephew after he death in 1962. “I just wanted Bill to know how much his mother loved him.”
Brian Hensley told jurors that he last saw his sister, Sharon, with Vail before the pair left Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1972. Other than a telephone call and letter in the months that followed, he said no one had seen or heard from her since.
When Mary Rose took the stand, Vail bowed his head.
This was the woman who had been working for 32 long years to bring him into this court.
This was the mother who had waited 32 years for this moment.
She called Annette “a huge light in my life. We were always loving toward each other.” She testified that Vail ran off with her daughter on his motorcycle and married her. She testified that Annette, who inherited nearly $100,000 and received two homes, disappeared weeks after deeding those homes to Vail.
Wesley Turnage, Rob Fremont, and Bruce Biedebach swore under oath that Vail said he killed his first wife. Biedebach said he asked Vail if Mary was a bitch, to which Vail had said yes. Vail laughed in court as he told the story.
The current coroner, forensic pathologist Dr. Terry Welke, testified that in most drownings, the body comes up in a “dead person’s float,” with the back of the head surfacing first and the limbs hanging down in the water.
After sharing a series of pictures to show it, he showed the court two black-and-white photographs of Mary Horton when her body was recovered on Oct. 30, 1962, less than two days after she reportedly drowned. Her body was stiff, with her hands over chest as if she was in a coffin.
They also saw the videotaped testimony of Isaac Abshire Jr, who had died in 2014. He said her body was stiff when it surfaced either sideways or face up when she bobbed up in the Calcasieu River.
That testimony helped contribute to Welke’s homicide conclusion. So did the unbroken grease-like stain across her Chi Omega sweatshirt, which he believed could have come from a tarp covering her. Welke concluded Mary was dead and stiff before her body went into the water, explaining why rigor had set in.
Testimony was heard of Vail not paying for his own wife’s funeral, despite having made thousands from her life insurance.
THE VERDICT
The jury didn’t even take a half hour to reach their verdict.
William Felix Vail Sr was unanimously found guilty of murdering Mary Horton. He was sentenced to life in prison.
After the verdict, the prosecutor also revealed that the FBI had found out that Vail had molested a child over 30 years ago. They were unable to put him on trial for it, as the statue of limitations had passed.
Finally, nearly 54 years after she was murdered, Mary Horton had found justice.
Finally, 42 years after her disappearance, Sharon Hensley had found justice.
And Annette Craver, with the help of her mother Mary Rose’s tireless efforts, had finally found justice after 32 years.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/f75084c7dce4fb08e12e45ccba5e40a1
This a photo of Mary, Sharon and Annette. I felt it was fitting to end off with. May they all rest in peace.
MY SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/8284?nav
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-michelle-craver-vail
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5796622/mary-elizabeth-vail
https://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-hensley
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20525?nav

DC Next Proudly Presents:

THE FLASH

In Top of the Heap
Issue Twenty-Six: Spinning in Circles
Written by AdamantAce
Edited by Deadislandman1
 
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Wally West woke to the first light of dawn seeping into his room at Iris's house, his bleary eyes slowly adjusting to the morning light. His room was a testament to the duality of his life: one of an ordinary teenager and the other of Kid Flash, the city's young speedster. A collection of running shoes, sole worn and treads erased, lay scattered in one corner - the Speed Force may have protected him while running, but he had nonetheless developed a nasty habit of being heavy-footed in his civilian life. His desk was buried beneath a chaotic pile of textbooks and notebooks, holding unfinished homework assignments that he could complete in the blink of an eye but always managed to put off.
Wally was never one for routine, finding comfort in the spontaneous and unpredictable. He thrived in the clutter, a trait that had only been amplified since he'd taken up the mantle of Kid Flash. His mornings were never the same, each one different from the last. Today was no different.
His morning haze was ended by a sudden knock at the front door, one he swore he recognised. Wally quickly pulled on a baseball tee and some cargo pants and rushed down the stairs. His aunt Iris had likely already begun her day, leaving Wally to face the unannounced guests himself. As he swung the door open, a blend of strained smiles and apprehension greeted him—the faces of Mary and Rudy West, his parents. Wally felt a surge of mixed emotions. They had allowed him to leave their family home in Blue Valley, Nebraska and move to Central City at the Flash’s insistence that he be closer to the experts who would put right the seizures brought on by his unstable connection to the Speed Force, and not having seen them for quite some time he supposed he should have been happy to be greeted by them now. The truth was that - though he had never told anyone this - his destructive powers were the perfect excuse to leave an already fraught home environment.
Wally braced himself for the obligatory exchange of pleasantries. "Morning," he mumbled, his voice bereft of warmth.
"Wally, it’s so good to see you!" Mary's voice wavered between forced cheerfulness and anxiety. "We thought we'd come by to see how you're doing."
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school, son?" Rudy asked, his gaze lingering on Wally's dishevelled appearance.
Wally bit back a sharp retort, grinding his teeth in frustration. Their attempt at casual conversation felt like a charade to him, a superficial overlay on a deep-seated problem. "Yeah, I should," he said tersely, the bitterness in his voice seeping through.
Feeling suffocated by their presence, Wally seized the opportunity to escape. "I'm late for school," he declared abruptly, sidestepping his parents and heading towards the door.
"But we just got here," Rudy protested, his brows furrowed in confusion. “We came all this way.”
"I really can't be late again," Wally called out, his voice fading as he harnessed his super-speed, his figure blurring into a streak of vibrant colours. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving his parents in the wake of his rapid departure.
 
🔻🔺 ⚡ 🔺🔻
 
Wally West found himself ensnared in his own turbulent thoughts rather than his English teacher’s recanting of the complexities of Fahrenheit 451. His heart was wreathed in grief over Max's death, a persistent ache that was compounded by the alienation he felt since moving from Nebraska to Central City. His social life was a drab canvas filled with faceless classmates, void of any meaningful friendships.
His sole source of belonging lay outside the school walls, within the bright streaks of yellow and red of his Kid Flash costume. As the trusted ally of the Scarlet Speedster, Wally felt an unshakeable sense of purpose and identity. But now even his life as Kid Flash was mired in uncertainty.
Wally had always idolised the Flash, back before he knew that multiple people had captured his imagination. Now Max was dead, and Barry was changed by it and other recent tragedies. There was a strained tension in his voice, a distracted focus in his eyes that Wally couldn't ignore. He'd seen him grief-stricken over Daniel’s death, and over losing Patty, but this was different.
Then there was Wally’s destabilising connection to the Speed Force. What initially seemed like an exhilarating unpredictability had turned into a haunting uncertainty. Any time he would use his powers, it was up to chance whether today he would be running a bit faster than before, or if his entire body would be paralysed and wrought by the lightning built up inside of him. It was a heavy burden for a teenager - even one in his senior year. Yet, he understood that he was of no use to Central City or his mentor if he couldn't rely on his speed.
The shrill ring of the bell signalling the end of the fifth period mercifully severed Wally's chain of thoughts. The day was too bright, the hallway noises too loud, everything a grating reminder of how much he'd rather be anywhere else but school. When his cell phone buzzed in his backpack, Wally made a beeline to the restroom to check his messages, discovering an alert from the Flash.
‘William and I are tied up with something; need you to deal with a new meta at the Civic Center.’
Wally's heart pounded with a heady mix of adrenaline and anticipation. His personal struggles faded into the background as he promptly excused himself from school, evading the notice of his teachers.
Within moments, Kid Flash skidded to a halt at the Central City Civic Center. A charity fair, attended by the city's elite, including Mayor Derek Fox and his family, had been engulfed in chaos. The cheerfulness of the fair was being choked by a dense, swirling maelstrom of noxious smoke, replacing laughter with terrified screams. A new villain had made their sinister debut.
"Well, a smoky surprise party was not what I had in mind," Kid Flash quipped, attempting to alleviate the tension rippling through the crowd. Drawing a deep breath, he felt the comforting surge of lightning as he manipulated time, slowing it down enough to peer through the swirling particles of soot. Scanning the area, he caught glimpses of numerous civilians and Mayor Fox's family but found no trace of the metahuman.
Releasing time back to its normal flow, Wally felt a peculiar satisfaction in successfully employing an ‘advanced speedster technique’. Moving closer to the billowing smoke, his voice cut through the clamour. "Everyone! Kid Flash is here! Follow the sound of my voice!"
Sure enough, figures began emerging from the fog, running past him, all except the mayor. When Ashley Fox, a woman around Barry's age, ran up to him with panic etched on her face, Wally knew this wouldn't be an easy task. "That thing has my dad!" cried Ashley. "You have to help him!"
“I will,” nodded Kid Flash dutifully. He took a deep breath of clean air and then ventured into the smog.
Strangely enough, as he pushed through the initial threshold of the smokescreen, Wally's vision remained less impaired than expected. Though he strained to see through the veil of grey, he managed to discern a dome of smoke enclosing the centre of the square, including his own path. From several points along the wall of the smoke dome, chains or ropes of condensed soot extended downward, converging at the centre where the elderly Mayor Fox was ensnared and gagged by the solidified smoke.
A deep, echoing laugh resonated from somewhere within the smoke, sending a chill down Wally’s spine.
"Looks like you've stumbled into the lion's den, kid," a voice echoed around him.
"So, you're the one behind this, huh?" Wally shouted back, attempting to pinpoint the origin of the voice.
"You think you can stop me, Kid Flash?" The voice bellowed from within its swirling smoky shroud, a menacing spectre harbouring a grudge.
Wally remained silent, his eyes locked on the mayor. The smoke was thick and toxic, choking the air around Mayor Fox, who coughed and spluttered. He knew he could get Fox out of there in a fraction of a second with his speed, but Smokescreen's smoke was thick, choking. If he made a wrong move at super speed, the sudden vacuum could cause the smoke to rush into Fox's lungs. A slow, suffocating death.
Suddenly, a familiar prickling sensation crawled up the base of Wally's skull. It gradually evolved into a dull ache, signaling the imminent threat of a Speed Force seizure. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on the task at hand.
"Why are you doing this?" he called out. "You could have targeted everyone, but you specifically went after the mayor. And if it's about him, why do it in public, where a Flash won’t be far away?"
“This isn’t about the mayor,” rumbled the voice of the unknown villain. Smokescreen, Wally decided to call him. His smoke tendrils curled tighter around Fox. "This is about making them know what it feels like to be scared, powerless."
"You can't possibly mean that," Wally cried, searching for any thread to latch onto, any shred of reason that could persuade the villain to reconsider. "I thought this event was for charity!"
“Sure, except it's all really for the benefit of these rich guys’ public image.”
Smokescreen's bitter words drifted through the air, his motivations becoming clearer, personal. It did nothing to justify his actions though. Whatever his grievances were, terrorising the public wasn't the answer.
Wally knew what he had to do, but the threat of a seizure loomed, ready to thwart his plans. Taking a deep breath and crossing his fingers, knowing he only had one chance at this, Wally sprinted forward, running a tight circuit around the ensnared mayor. Swiftly, winds began to whip as an air vortex formed, perfectly suited to draw the metahuman's smoke away. Time seemed to stretch into infinity, and in the singular moment Wally found himself in, his dread intensified. This was it, a seizure about to begin. His breath hitched, he didn't have time for this, not now. The smoke was thickening around him, the cries getting louder. He couldn't fail now, not with so much at stake.
Every instinct urged him to halt, but he pressed on, aware that the vortex's force could draw in more smoke. Ignoring his doubts, he clenched his fists, bracing himself for the impending pain, determined to fight it off. As time resumed and the race resumed with it, Wally didn't retreat but dove headfirst into the storm. Battling against the seizure, each passing moment amplified the agony, blurring his vision.
And then, something remarkable happened. Instead of succumbing to the seizure, he pushed past it, triggering a surge of Speed Force energy that supercharged his abilities. The golden lightning in his wake transformed into a dazzling white, propelling him to speeds he had never reached before. The vortex intensified, drawing in the smoky tendrils and hurling them high into the sky, dispersing them in the process.
The shroud lifted, and Wally turned in motion, finally catching sight of the metahuman attacker - a short, middle-aged man now cowering, knocked to the ground alongside the mayor by the intense wind tunnel conjured by Kid Flash.
Desperate, the man clenched his fists and commanded a torrent of smoke that seemed to burst from behind him, swelling as it raised upwards. Whether it was to attack him, or to hurt the mayor, Wally didn’t care. Moving at unprecedented speed, Wally reached Mayor Fox before the metahuman could even choose a target. Wally swiftly covered the mayor's mouth and nose with his hand, shielding him from the noxious fumes in case his speed faltered. In an instant, he darted back to the edge of the Civic Center square.
Screeching to a halt, Kid Flash emerged from super speed. The white lightning still engulfed his frame, and though he couldn't see it, his eyes burned with intense white light. Carefully, he laid the mayor down at his daughter's feet.
“Thank you!” Ashley Fox cried as she tended to her father.
Applause erupted from the crowd, cheers filling the air as Wally dashed back to apprehend the now feeble-looking Smokescreen, still reeling from the sudden dissipation of his smoky shroud. Wally's punch sent him sprawling, neutralising the threat and ensuring the mayor's safety.
Amidst the persisting cheers, the pain from the seizure gradually ebbed away, taking with it his heightened power. Wally felt like a deflating balloon, the excess energy and power seeping out like escaping helium. His heightened senses recalibrated, and the world resumed its normal speed and rhythm.
A lingering echo of the seizure, akin to the aftertaste of a potent drink, left him shivering. The hyper-awareness of his body and surroundings felt almost invasive after the distant, godlike power he had just experienced. His body, no longer buzzing with extra energy, felt heavy, as if he had been filled with lead. Each beat of his heart resounded loudly in his ears, his lungs aching from the exertion, and sweat trickling down his back, sticking his yellow suit to his skin.
The world around him, which had felt so distant, so removed, was abruptly vivid and pressing. The muffled sounds of the crowd became a cacophony of relieved murmurs and melodic jubilations. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy, once distant and faint, was now potent, mingling with the tangy scent of smoke and adrenaline in the air. He could feel every grain of dust and debris under his feet, the grit pressing into his skin through the fabric of his boots.
He felt drained and yet somehow more alive than ever, every sense heightened in the wake of the energy rush. And beneath it all, he carried a sense of satisfaction, knowing that despite the challenges posed by his unstable Speed Force connection, it had proven to be a formidable asset. Mayor Fox was safe, and the smoke villain had been defeated. As Kid Flash, Wally had conquered his personal obstacles and emerged victorious.
Yet, as Wally West, he continued to run a race against grief, responsibility, and his own fears—a race with no discernible finish line. His only choice was to keep running, hoping to push through every wall in his path. And on this day, running felt nothing short of fantastic.
 
🔻🔺 ⚡ 🔺🔻
 
The smell of brewing coffee enveloped Wally as he pushed open the door to Jitters, a comforting counterpoint to the chaos that typically defined his world. Amidst the hum of murmured conversation and clattering cups, the speedster found a slow-paced sanctuary, an oddly soothing anchor in a life measured in Mach speeds.
The barista behind the counter was a fresh face amid the familiar, a girl around Wally’s age with wavy hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, her name tag identifying her as ‘Rosie’. He had caught her in the midst of latte artistry, hands steady as she crafted a foam rosetta, her tongue peeking out at the corner of her mouth in concentrated effort.
"New here?" Wally asked, not really expecting anything. Friends were not something he had come to anticipate in this city. He was more comfortable confronting supervillains than making small talk, which was likely why Wally West remained mostly a stranger to everyone at his school.
Rosie's gaze shifted, disrupting the intricate art on her latte canvas. "Started this week," she responded, affixing a lid to the slightly marred latte before sending it down the counter. There was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, quickly replaced by humour. "What about you? A regular?"
"Trying to be," Wally confessed, a smirk playing on his lips at the absurdity of it. "People rush in for caffeine, I’m here to catch my breath."
Rosie chuckled, her eyes gleaming with an unexpected understanding. "Quite the paradox."
A familiar cover caught his eye - a copy of the graphic novel 'Astra Nebula' nestled by the register. "You're into 'Astra Nebula'? Kind of avant-garde, isn’t it?"
Her eyes lit up with passion as she set aside her work. "I love it! How they weave so much real world commentary into these strange planets and their stories is… well, I don’t know how they do it. Wait till you get to Volume Three."
Wally blinked. His perception of 'Astra Nebula' was far less complex, focused on the high-octane action, and not on the layers of social commentary. "Yeah, the subtext is… pretty loaded," he offered, hoping his words rang true.
A knowing grin spread across Rosie's face as she let out a soft laugh. "You're in it for the space battles, aren't you?"
Wally blushed, his laughter joining hers. "You got me."
A fleeting connection, punctuated by shared laughter, hung between them, bridging the gap of unfamiliarity.
Just as the moment was beginning to stretch, a voice called out, signalling the end of Rosie's shift. "I need to get going," she said. "Someone else will take care of your order."
“I didn’t even order yet,” Wally replied with a smirk, realising the absent-mindedness that had led their conversation.
“Oh, right,” Rosie laughed, her eyes wide. “Stacy’s better at the latte art anyway.”
“Guess everyone needs a mentor,” Wally suggested, keeping the atmosphere light.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” Rosie agreed, moving to untie her apron. “See you around…”
“Wally,” he filled in.
"Tomorrow, Wally?" There was a hopefulness in her voice, a hint of a budding friendship that seemed more attainable than he'd dared to hope.
He offered a nod, warmth blooming in his chest. "Yeah, see you, Rosie."
As he placed his usual order with Stacy, Wally found himself wearing an unexpected smile. Stepping out of Jitters, he couldn't help but feel the seeds of anticipation sown. Maybe Central City had something more to offer for Wally West as well as for Kid Flash. He dared to hope.
 
 
Next: Barry and William work it out in The Flash #27