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Buried Episode 11: Misdirection

In July 2017, KETR approached the Hunt Co. Sheriff's Office to discuss Carey Mae Parker's disappearance. It didn't go well.
 
Howard Parker told his family that he filed a missing person report about his daughter with a local constable named Cullen Smith. 

A young Carey Mae Parker with her siblings.
Credit Courtesy of Patricia Gager
A young Carey Mae Parker with her siblings.

KETR requested copies of any files about Carey Parker held by the constable's office. The office returned information related to traffic violations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Meanwhile, former deputy constable Jim Davenport claimed to have seen files about Carey Parker held by Smith. He also said Smith was working on the case before he died in 2008. 

"When he passed, it was very inconvenient because something was going to come to a head about that time," Davenport said. 

Jeff Haines, the detective in charge of investigating Carey Parker's disappearance since 2013, learned KETR had obtained information in his own case file.

Hunt Co. Sheriff Randy Meeks instructed Haines to find out how. 

George Hale is a radio reporter for KETR and the host of its investigative podcast Buried.
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