The Third Missing Person: Hailey Jackson
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Our third Fair River resident to go missing was five-year-old Hailey Jackson, who vanished on April 25th, 2016. According to the police report, her ten-year-old brother, Greg, had been tasked with watching her and her three-year-old sister Bailey while their mother, Melanie, "ran to the store." In reality, Melanie had an appointment with Dr. Everett for some "troubles" she'd been having, and she didn't want to worry the kids by bringing them along. Plus, they were never any good in the waiting room.
While Melanie was out, the sisters got into a fight. Bailey had taken Hailey's favorite toy, a raggedy plush cat Hailey had named Gold Eyes. When Hailey saw Gold Eyes in her sister's clutches, she snatched the cat from Bailey's hands. Bailey started bawling.
Greg scolded Hailey for making their sister cry, and Hailey stormed out of the room, Gold Eyes in tow. Greg would recount in his statement to Deputy Smith that he heard the back door open, but there was nothing unusual about that; when Hailey was in a mood, she would sit outside in the sandbox and sulk. He stayed inside to comfort Bailey.
It's not clear why Hailey ventured into the woods. Her brother had tormented her, in the way that older sibling do, with tales of the creatures that roamed the forest. According to Melanie, Haliey seemed a little skittish around the treeline and would shriek and rush inside sometimes when she heard animals crunching through the underbrush. A few of Fair River's denizens pointed to the tales of trickster creatures luring their intended victims into the woods with their cutesy disguises, but as the sheriff was quick to note, there is no evidence to support such an occurrence. All that we know for certain is what Greg witnessed next.
Once he had pacified Bailey, Greg went to check on Hailey. Through the window cut into the back door, he noticed a swatch of blue passing between the trees at the edge of their property. He headed outside to the sandbox, but Hailey was not there.
As he was staring at the yellow plastic excavator turned over on its side, halfway buried beneath the sand, he realized that the blue he had seen in the woods was the blue of his sister's dress. He raced to the edge of the woods, but Hailey was nowhere in sight. He knew better than to go into the woods; he had been days shy of his ninth birthday when Cam disappeared, old enough to remember the whisperings of monsters, the fear that rose in his mother's voice when he stepped too close to the treeline. The woods have become greedy. Mr. Kirkland's words echoed in Greg's mind. Had the woods now taken Hailey too?
Greg called the sheriff's office and not long after Deputy Smith was at the door. The poor child cried through his interrogation. He felt like it was his fault Hailey went missing, that had he been more attentive, perhaps he could have stopped her from wandering into the woods.
The sheriff sent his deputy to check the portion of the woods that bordered the backyard, but the only evidence Deputy Smith found was found was Gold Eyes. Melanie pressed for a more thorough search, but after Sheriff Mitchell cornered her and made some advances, she dropped the matter. She rallied together a small search party, but they were no more successful than the deputy had been.
The town grew warier. Families with money enough built up fences around their yards if they bothered to stick around. The town council passed a resolution forbidding anyone from going into the woods without express permission. Parents watched their children closer, held their hands a little tighter. But none of that was enough.
Our third Fair River resident to go missing was five-year-old Hailey Jackson, who vanished on April 25th, 2016. According to the police report, her ten-year-old brother, Greg, had been tasked with watching her and her three-year-old sister Bailey while their mother, Melanie, "ran to the store." In reality, Melanie had an appointment with Dr. Everett for some "troubles" she'd been having, and she didn't want to worry the kids by bringing them along. Plus, they were never any good in the waiting room.
While Melanie was out, the sisters got into a fight. Bailey had taken Hailey's favorite toy, a raggedy plush cat Hailey had named Gold Eyes. When Hailey saw Gold Eyes in her sister's clutches, she snatched the cat from Bailey's hands. Bailey started bawling.
Greg scolded Hailey for making their sister cry, and Hailey stormed out of the room, Gold Eyes in tow. Greg would recount in his statement to Deputy Smith that he heard the back door open, but there was nothing unusual about that; when Hailey was in a mood, she would sit outside in the sandbox and sulk. He stayed inside to comfort Bailey.
Crime scene photograph of Gold Eyes.
It's not clear why Hailey ventured into the woods. Her brother had tormented her, in the way that older sibling do, with tales of the creatures that roamed the forest. According to Melanie, Haliey seemed a little skittish around the treeline and would shriek and rush inside sometimes when she heard animals crunching through the underbrush. A few of Fair River's denizens pointed to the tales of trickster creatures luring their intended victims into the woods with their cutesy disguises, but as the sheriff was quick to note, there is no evidence to support such an occurrence. All that we know for certain is what Greg witnessed next.
Once he had pacified Bailey, Greg went to check on Hailey. Through the window cut into the back door, he noticed a swatch of blue passing between the trees at the edge of their property. He headed outside to the sandbox, but Hailey was not there.
As he was staring at the yellow plastic excavator turned over on its side, halfway buried beneath the sand, he realized that the blue he had seen in the woods was the blue of his sister's dress. He raced to the edge of the woods, but Hailey was nowhere in sight. He knew better than to go into the woods; he had been days shy of his ninth birthday when Cam disappeared, old enough to remember the whisperings of monsters, the fear that rose in his mother's voice when he stepped too close to the treeline. The woods have become greedy. Mr. Kirkland's words echoed in Greg's mind. Had the woods now taken Hailey too?
Greg called the sheriff's office and not long after Deputy Smith was at the door. The poor child cried through his interrogation. He felt like it was his fault Hailey went missing, that had he been more attentive, perhaps he could have stopped her from wandering into the woods.
The sheriff sent his deputy to check the portion of the woods that bordered the backyard, but the only evidence Deputy Smith found was found was Gold Eyes. Melanie pressed for a more thorough search, but after Sheriff Mitchell cornered her and made some advances, she dropped the matter. She rallied together a small search party, but they were no more successful than the deputy had been.
The town grew warier. Families with money enough built up fences around their yards if they bothered to stick around. The town council passed a resolution forbidding anyone from going into the woods without express permission. Parents watched their children closer, held their hands a little tighter. But none of that was enough.
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