IN
IN AUGUST
IN AUGUST 1990, ERIC POTATO AND HEIDI SEAMAN DISAPPEARED FROM
THEIR SAN ANTONIO NEIGHBORHOODS
AND WERE LATER FOUND MURDERED.
THIRTY YEARS LATER, DIGITAL
JOURNALIST MEGAN BALL TAKES US
BACK THROUGH THE MONTH OF
THE ALAMO CITY INTO A TAILSPIN
.
.
. SHE
. SHE LOVED LIFE.
SHE LOVED HER FRIENDS.
SHE REALLY WAS JUST PURE JOY.
SHE WAS EVERYTHING A LITTLE
GIRL SHOULD BE.
SHE'S THE LITTLE ANGEL.
I JUST THINK WE ALL COULD SEE
OUR CHILDREN AND THOSE TWO
LITTLE GIRLS.
LITTLE GIRLS. >> IN 1990, 163 CHILDREN WENT
MISSING IN TEXAS ACCORDING TO
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING
AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN FOUND.
>> I'LL NEVER GIVE.
TWO OF THEM WERE 11 YEAR OLD
HEIDI SEAMAN AND SEVEN YEAR OLD
ERICA.
ERICA.
ERICA. BOTH THEY ARE BOTH FROM SAN
ANTONIO, TEXAS STRIKES AND
WORST FEARS.
WORST FEARS. >> ON AUGUST 4TH, HEIDI SEAMAN
WAS WALKING ALONG A STRETCH OF
STALL ROAD ON THE CITY'S NORTH
EAST SIDE WHEN SHE DISAPPEARED
.
.
. >>
. >> HE
. >> HE HAD SPENT THE NIGHT AT
HER FRIEND WHITNEY HOUSE AND
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HOME AT
NOON AND WE NOTICED SHE WAS AT
HOME AT TWELVE THIRTY AND SHE
WAS ALWAYS ON TIME SO WE KNEW
SOMETHING WAS WRONG RIGHT AWAY
.
.
. A
. A QUICK
. A QUICK CALL TO WHITNEY'S HOUSE
REVEALED THAT THE GIRLS WALKED
TOGETHER TO A HALFWAY POINT
BETWEEN THEIR HOMES AS WHITNEY
BEGAN WALKING BACK TO HER OWN
HOME.
HOME.
HOME. >>
HOME. >> SHE LOOKED BACK TO CHECK ON
HEIDI, BUT SHE WAS GONE
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN WHERE SHE
WAS WHEN SHE WAS SAFE HAVING A
SLEEP OVER AND THE TURN OFF
THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE TO GET
BACK INTO SAFETY IN HER OWN
NEIGHBORHOOD.
NEIGHBORHOOD. >> I MEAN IT WAS THE BLINK OF
AN EYE OVER THE FOLLOWING DAYS
AND WEEKS.
AND WEEKS. >> THE SAN ANTONIO COMMUNITY
SHOWED UP IN FULL FORCE.
HDB OFFERED A FIVE THOUSAND
DOLLAR REWARD FOR INFORMATION.
SPURS PLAYERS OFFERED THEIR
SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE.
>> THEY ASKED ME TO DO
MARIJUANA.
MARIJUANA. COCKREL EVEN DECLARED AUGUST
11TH AS FINE HEIDI DAY A DAY
THAT BROUGHT OUT TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF SEARCH VOLUNTEERS
.
.
. I
. I KNOW
. I KNOW THAT MY PARENTS TOLD ME
THEY LOST ME AND MY REAL
CONCERN.
CONCERN.
CONCERN. >> SO I WANTED TO HELP OUT.
>> ON AUGUST TWENTY THIRD
THE ALREADY WELL ORGANIZED
EFFORT TO SEARCH FOR HEIDI
SEAMAN EXPANDED AS VOLUNTEERS
ALSO BEGAN LOOKING FOR ERICA.
BUT THEY ALL VOLUNTEERS
CONTINUE STREAMING IN INTENT ON
FINDING 7 YEAR OLD ERICA MARIE
BOTH DALE KIDNAPED FROM HER
WESTSIDE HOME TWO DAYS AGO.
>> SHE SPOKE.
>> WE WANT TO HER PLEASE BRING
HER HOME.
HER HOME.
HER HOME. NORMALLY A PLACE WHERE KIDS
COULD SAFELY RUN WILD AND FREE
.
.
. >>
. >> SAN
. >> SAN ANTONIO WAS ON HIGH
ALERT AND PARENTS WERE HOLDING
THEIR CHILDREN CLOSE.
>> ALL WE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT
ANOTHER CHILD WAS MISSING AND
SHE WAS FEELING YOUNGER AND
SMALLER THAN HEIDI.
AND WHEN THEY CAME TO US AND
THEY SAID ANOTHER CHILD IS
MISSING, WE WERE DEVASTATED FOR
THE OTHER FAMILY.
KENS 5 ANGERED ZEBRA NAP AND
REPORTER SUE KOHLBERG BOTH OF
WHOM COVERED THE GIRL'S CASES
EXTENSIVELY AT THE TIME SAY
THINGS CHANGED IN SAN ANTONIO
SEEMINGLY OVERNIGHT.
SEEMINGLY OVERNIGHT. >> IT HAPPENED IN THE BLINK OF
AN EYE AND I THINK THAT'S WHY
IT SCARED US SO BADLY BECAUSE
EVERYBODY FELT LIKE THAT COULD
BE ME MORE CAREFUL AND WATCH
YOUR CHILDREN MORE BECAUSE
THAT'S WHAT I'M DOING.
>> I WANT AT MY HOME IS
WATCHING.
WATCHING.
WATCHING. I HAD SMALL CHILDREN AND THEY
JUST DIDN'T WANT THEM OUT OF
YOUR SIGHT.
YOUR SIGHT. >> WE HAD STRANGER DANGER.
IT'S A RARE THING THAT A
STRANGER KIDNAPS A CHILD.
BUT HERE WE HAD IT THE CASE TWO
CHILDREN, GOOD PARENTS WARN
YOUR CHILDREN.
YOUR CHILDREN. ON AUGUST 26 THE SEARCH FOR
BOTH DALE WOULD COME TO AN END
.
.
. >>
. >> WE
. >> WE WENT DOWN AS WE WERE TOLD
WE ARE CLEARED ABOUT 200 FEET.
THERE WAS A THING AN OBSTACLE
IN THE WAY DEFINED AS A CORPSE
.
.
. ALL
. ALL I
. ALL I CAN SAY.
>> DECADES LATER JOSEPH JR.
BLONSKY RECALLS FINDING
THE MISSING 7 YEAR OLD.
>> I REMEMBER SCREAMING.
I SCREAMED AT THE TOP OF MY
LUNGS AND I TRIED TO BACKTRACK
MY WAY OUT OF THE TUNNEL AS
FAST AS I KNEW HOW.
WHAT I SAW WAS WRONG.
WHAT I SAW NEEDED TO BE FIXED
AND SOMEBODY NEEDED TO BE
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BECAUSE
THE FOLLOWING DAY IT WAS
CONFIRMED THAT A BODY FOUND IN
A FIELD IN WIMBERLEY WAS THAT
OF YOUNG HEIDI SEAMAN.
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR BOTH GIRLS
WERE HELD ON THE SAME DAY.
MOST TRAGIC DAYS I CAN EVER
REMEMBER AND THIS CITY AS WE
SAY GOODBYE TO TWO PRECIOUS
LITTLE GIRLS AS THE CITY
MOURNED.
MOURNED.
MOURNED. >> INVESTIGATORS GOT TO WORK
DURING THE GIRLS SEPARATE
MURDER INVESTIGATIONS.
MURDER INVESTIGATIONS. SEVERAL PEOPLE WERE LOOKED AT.
HOWEVER, DUE TO A LACK OF
EVIDENCE, NO ONE WAS EVER
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.
AND WHILE MRS. SEAMAN SAYS SHE
HASN'T GIVEN UP HOPE, IT'S HARD
TO HAVE HOPE.
>> THIRTY YEARS LATER THEY HAVE
SOLVED CASES LATER.
SHE AND HER HUSBAND WOULD
RATHER FOCUS ON ALL THE GOOD
THAT CAME OF THE HAITI SEARCH
CENTER PRIOR TO ITS CLOSING IN
2018.
2018.
2018. WE
2018. WE HAVE STATISTICS THAT WE KEPT
FOR TWENTY SEVEN YEARS.
AND SO OUT OF AROUND 4000 CASES
98 PERCENT WERE LOCATED.
NINETY FOUR PERCENT LOCATED
ALIVE.
ALIVE.
ALIVE. >>
ALIVE. >> I THINK SHE WOULD BE VERY
PROUD OF ALL OF THE WORK DATA
SEARCH CENTER DID.
MEGAN I THINK SHE WOULD BE
HAPPY WITH THAT.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD MAKE HER
SMILE.
SMILE.
SMILE. >>
SMILE. >> THEY HAVE A WALL OF HOPE.
I THINK HER LEGACY IS LOVE.
SHE SAW THAT GOOD.
AND I THINK THAT HELPS US SEE
THAT GOOD.
THAT GOOD. IT HELPS OTHER PEOPLE SEE
THE BIG MEGAN BALL KENS 5
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