Kids on the Case

0:28This episode is brought to you by DeeDee's Discounts. It's now for the Dog Stars. It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear. Out there. Kill or be killed. Jacob Alordi. There are people out there. They need our help. Josh Brolin. Shoot first and inquire afterwards. Margaret Qualley. Ow. Okay, tough guy. And Guy Pearce. Arm up. The Dog Stars. Directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters August 28th. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parents. I've always just naturally been curious. I've been a natural investigator my entire life. This is Jessica Maple. Back in 2011, she was finishing sixth grade and starting to make plans for her perfect summer.

1:13And what she really wanted to do was go to a policy debate camp. And then my mother said, Hey, Jessica, I just got an email from the school and the county is going to have a junior district attorney camp. Jessica was annoyed that her mother assumed that district attorney camp would be anything like policy debate camp. She was 12. And I'm just like, Mom, I'm not into this type of stuff, so I don't want to go. And she's like, well, you're going anyway. So I was a bit upset until I went that first day. For years, district attorney Paul Howard led camps for Atlanta's middle school students. Campers didn't swim or canoe or make friendship bracelets.

1:59They spent their days at police stations and observing criminal trials. They had to abide by the junior D.A. creed. On the first day of camp, each camper was issued a uniform. We had this giant oversized kind of blazer with a police badge. We wore khaki pants and polos. So we were all matching. And, you know, we had the district attorney come in and then some of the attorneys that he works with. And they were saying, hey, everybody, welcome to junior district attorney camp. And at the end of this camp, you guys are going to be like district attorneys. Jessica loved it. Everything about it. Every day after her camp, her mother would pick her up and Jessica would tell her who she met and what she learned.

2:49But one day, she got in the car and her mother was upset. And then she explained to me that someone broke into her grandmother's house. And we don't know who did it. They took a lot of things. And so she was really upset because that's actually where she grew up. So she held a lot of memories there. And it just was really upsetting to her because it's just having someone invade a space that's special to you is very emotional. When Jessica's great-grandmother passed away years earlier, the family kept her house in the small town of Fitzgerald, Georgia, exactly how she left it. Until someone broke in and took everything.

3:32Her dining room set was gone. Her washer and dryer was gone. Her sofa was gone. Somebody took all of her, like, crystal vases. They took her record console. The bedroom sets were gone. It was pretty empty. It just looked like somebody came in and moved out. Her washer and dryer. Washer and dryer, yes. And the oven, too. Jessica says that a police officer told her mother that the odds of finding the person or people who did this weren't good. He sort of insinuated the family was at fault somehow. And the police officer was just like, did you guys give anybody a key? Because it just looks like somebody had a key because there's, like, no forced points of entry or anything.

4:18And it just seems like that's the only thing that happened here. After the police left, Jessica and her mother stayed behind, giving everything another look. I actually went around to the side of the house where the garage was. And by the garage door windows, there were three little fingerprints. And I remember in junior DA camp, I was like, oh, fingerprints, this is definitely some evidence. so we can send this off to the GPI, and then we can find whoever broke into my grandmother's house. The GBI is the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Jessica's mother called the police and asked them to come back to have a look at the fingerprints.

4:59And so I showed that to them, and they were just like, that's not enough. We need at least, like, you know, seven fingerprints. It's going to take entirely too long. And at this point, you were thinking, I don't think that I can count on the police to solve this crime. It's up to me. Oh, yeah. I was just like, okay, I have the tools and the knowledge on how to solve this crime. So now we're going to investigate this and figure out who did this. Because I'm pretty unhappy. My mother was upset. My dad's upset. And I just want to get to the bottom of this. Did you say to your mother at any point, don't worry, I've got this.

5:39I'm on it. Yes. I told her, I was like, hey, Mom, I'm going to figure this out, and we're going to figure out who did this, because justice needs to be served. Jessica began her investigation. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal.

6:03We'll be right back. To listen without ads, join Criminal Plus. This is criminal.com slash plus.

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7:44Jessica Maple's first step was to go around her great-grandmother's house and take note of everything that was missing. She made a checklist. And so I was just like, okay, I remember how old this looks. We even have photos. So it's time to essentially search for these items. Did you have a little notebook? I did. Were you wearing your badge? No, I left the badge at home. I should have had it with me. I would have looked way more official. I would have been wearing the badge. I don't think I'd ever taken the badge off. After Jessica cataloged everything that was missing, she started thinking about the next logical step.

8:24So the town's not that big. So there are about, like, three pawn shops. And one of these pawn shops was actually on the same street as my grandmother's house. When you said to your mother, we're going to the pawn shop, what was her response? She was just like, okay, I know you have these junior DA skills, so I'm just going to listen to you. We're just going to follow what you say, and we're just going to go. They walked into the pawn shop and started looking around. And then, lo and behold, I see my grandmother's living room set and her dining room set. And it's set up like it's like a little furniture shop.

9:04And it's just there. And I look at my mom like, Mom, wow. And she takes out like her envelope full of her like childhood photos. And it's like her as a kid in front of this, the same exact dining room set. The owner of the pawn shop came over and asked if they needed help. I said, yes, sir. In fact, I do. Jessica asked the owner of the pawn shop to tell her everything he knew about this table and chairs. He said, well, two men brought this in and, you know, they just took it off their truck and they brought it in here. And so I asked him, I said, hey, do you mind giving me like photocopies of their IDs?

9:48And he was like, why do you need it? I said, well, this furniture was stolen from my grandmother's house. And he was like, oh, okay, I'll be right back. The pawn shop owner gave Jessica a form that included scans of two young men's IDs. She and her mother drove straight to the police station. So I got out the car and I felt pretty confident. I was just like, okay, I think I solved this. So I go inside of the police station, and I find the officer, well, the investigator who is on the case. And so I pass it to him, and I say, hey, I did your job again. And on this form, I have, like, the IDs of the guys who did it.

10:35So now you guys can go out and arrest them. And then the police officer, well, the investigator, he said, well, we can't quite do that. We have to do our own investigation. Jessica decided that the police could continue their investigation, and she would continue hers. She had the names and addresses of the people who pawned the furniture, and she asked her mother if they could go to one of the houses just to see if anyone was around. And so we passed by the house. My mom's just like, hey, do you see that person outside? And so I turn, and it's a young man and his mother sitting outside on their porch.

11:15And I told her, I was like, hey, mom, I think that's him. It looks just like him. Jessica didn't hesitate. She jumped out of the car and marched up to the porch. So I walk up, and I'm like, hello, I'm Jessica. Her mother was trailing behind. And they turn around, and they look at me, and they're like, oh, hello, Jessica. and I say, you look very familiar, sir. And the young man looks up at me. He's like, what? I was like, yes, you look very familiar. And so then I pull out like the little sheet where like the ideas and like, is this you? And he's like, yes, this is me. And then the mother was just like, okay, what's going on here?

11:53And then I said, you know that house? And then I mentioned the street where my grandmother's house was. He said, yeah, I know that house. I'm like, oh really? well, did you happen to take some furniture to a pawn shop? And he pretty much gave himself away at that point because, you know, he couldn't deny it because that's him on the pawn shop little form. And he's just like, yeah, I did. And I was like, well, did you, you know, break into this house? You know, my grandmother's house. And he's all like, yeah, I did. And his mother was like, oh my gosh, what? Jessica and her mother drove back to the police station so Jessica could tell the investigator that not only had she found one of the suspects, but she had also obtained a confession.

12:42The owner of the pawn shop agreed to return her grandmother's items. When Jessica went back to camp that Monday, all of the campers were asked to describe one way in which junior district attorney camp had been helpful in their real lives. When Jessica told her story, no one could believe it. And then the rest of the country found out about it, too. Here she is being interviewed with District Attorney Paul Howard on National News. So what was the response that you got when you pointed out this clue that you found? Well, when they came, they said, wow. And that was it. So now you talk to the manager.

13:27What happens? He, like, brings out two sheets of paper, and it had IDs on them. And I thought to myself, this is really helpful. Then he finally admitted it. You got in the crowd. Yes. Confess. Yes. Right there on the street. Yes. Well, this is, I mean, it's amazing, but it's beyond amazing. I mean, how old are you? I'm 12. I'm 12 years old. What did your mother say at the end of this all? My mother said, Jessica, you are so smart. You're so bright. You are so intelligent. Like, you are amazing for solving this. And you pretty much did this all on your own. Like, you're great. And I knew you going to junior D.A.

14:10camp, I knew that was such a great idea. And I looked at her and I said, you're right, Mom. You're right.

14:23We'll be right back.

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15:23you to inspire generations and shape entertainment. Coming to Disney Plus on August 20th. What did you say to your mother? What did you say when you walked in the door? I was like, Mom, the craziest thing just happened. This is Griffin Steele. He's 10 now, but when he was 7, he found something very strange. Can you tell me about that day? Take me through that day. Okay, so my dad had to go to Lowe's and ask me if I wanted to come with him, so I did. And then after that, we decided to stop by our local Speedway. That's a gas station. Yes, it is. And so we went in the store, and my dad bought me a cherry-flavored Gatorade.

16:13And I finished drinking the Gatorade pretty early. So I went to throw it away on the trash can that was outside. And then I look in the trash can and I find that there's like a ton of money in there.

16:30How much money did it seem like? From looking at it, I didn't have much perspective back then. But I would say that it was probably a little bit more than$10 ,000 maybe. $10 ,000? I bet that's the most money you'd ever seen in your life. Besides on TV, yes. Well, I mean, I was a little bit, I was confused when he said, Hey, Dad, look at this trash can. It's full of money. And I said, What? Griffin's dad, Shane Steele. I walked over there, and I mean, you know, it's just something you never see. I was trying to figure out what to do because it was a very public place. There's cars everywhere. And I'm standing there with this trash can full of money and trying to figure out how to get it out of public view without looking like I'm doing something wrong.

17:28So I just decided to just the bag was a brand new trash can that didn't have anything in it except the money. So I just folded it up, tied it up, and put it in the back of my truck. But, you know, the whole time it was like answering that question, like, what would you do if you found a bunch of money on the side of the road? It was strange because, like, a lot of it was covered in red dye. I asked Dad why it was covered in red, and he said that there were exploded dye packs on it because whenever there was a bank robbery, they would put dye packs inside the, mixed in with the other, mixed in with the normal money.

18:08so that whenever they stole it, there was like a trip by the door. So as soon as that happened, the dye packs would explode and it would cover all the money in red dye. And it was still hot. You know, the money was still hot. So it obviously just, that dye pack just went off maybe 15 minutes at the most before we found it. So, yeah. Shane and Griffin called a friend who was a police officer to ask what they should do. He told them that there had been a bank robbery just 45 minutes ago. So they called 911 and sat down on a bench to wait. Shane took a picture of Griffin with the money. It's just me with, like, I'm, like, gasping, and I have, like, all the money in front of me inside the trash bag, and it's, like, it's one of the biggest mistakes of a picture I've ever put online.

19:02Because your mouth is wide open? Yeah, it's very cringeworthy. Police in Horry County, South Carolina, arrested a man a few days later who had allegedly robbed the bank on the day Griffin found the money, as well as another bank a few days earlier. He was convicted of grand larceny, two counts of entering a bank, with intent to steal and second-degree burglary. Did you tell your friends? um yes as a child i was uh annoying so i was basically going around and bragging to people oh look what i'd found but you think you're do you think that you've grown out of being annoying now at almost 11 okay it was just a phase correct okay well they always seem to get themselves in crazy situations.

19:58Griffin's mother, Carol Steele. She says the bank that had been robbed gave Griffin a$250 reward on one of those oversized novelty checks. A huge check, as tall as he was at the time, and it's still in his bedroom now. Oh, he's carrying it around the house. He's carrying it.

20:19He has that check that's hanging on the side of his room. Griffin's older brother, Jackson. He's 13. So every time you walk into his room, you have to see the check. Yes. Do you two get along generally? A lot better this year. Okay. He told me he used to be annoying. Well, he wasn't the one, though. He wasn't annoying. It was just me being a jerk. Oh, really? Well, that's a nice brother. Both of you are really generous to admit being annoying and you admit being a jerk. That's nice. Yeah. What's he like? Is he kind of a kid that is always getting into things, kind of like a detective? He is actually the family snoop.

21:09So anytime that we misplace anything in the house, we ask Griffin where it is and he absolutely knows where it is. Like what? Your keys, your wallet? Yes, the remote controls. We're always asking him, where's the remote control? My tennis rackets. I hadn't played tennis in a while. And I said, Griffin, where are my tennis rackets? And he said, they're in the hallway closet at the very top of it. And I was like, what are you doing at the top of the hallway closet? He just, there's something about him he knows. Yes, exactly. And he's a helper, just a helper personality too.

21:56Here's another story. Four years ago, in a small village outside of London called Capel, the National Police Service got a call that an industrial facility had been broken into by at least two men. Rory Niblock is a tactical flight officer with the National Police Service. I work on the police helicopter. He says that a lot of the time, he gets into his helicopter with very little information. So you knew that you were looking for people who had maybe broken in somewhere and they might be running. That's really all you knew. That's right, yeah. Very limited descriptions. Not overly familiar with the area.

22:36Very rural, so plenty of places to hide, woodland, etc. So that's all we knew when we were on loop. It took about 10 minutes to get to the right area. But by then, there was no one anywhere in sight. So we started looking at nearby farms. And it was at that stage that we saw neighboring premises, people, farmers, et cetera, indicating, waving their hands, saying, you want to look that way, because we obviously didn't know what they wanted to say. So you were flying over and you'd look down and you'd see these people standing in their backyards in their fields waving their arms, you know, saying this way, this way.

23:21That's right. Exactly that. And we're flying between one and two thousand feet. So you can imagine people look fairly small on the ground. But you can make out that there were a number of people in adjacent property saying you need to search in that direction. And that's when we commenced the search. They had seen two guys running through their yard, obviously not supposed to be there. That's right. Yep. Clearly, what, trying to, acting furtively. And they had no purpose to be, it's such a rural location. They had no purpose to be there. So we were confident these were the people concerned. The two suspects ran together through farms and yards.

24:00And then, when they reached a wide open field, they split up and ran in opposite directions. There was no way to keep track of both men from the air. They knew one had run into the woods, and they'd lost track of the other one. It was then when my colleague, Neil Parrack, the pilot, said, what are those kids doing down there? Rory looked out of the window and saw a group of small children. He later learned they were out hunting for Easter eggs. He says kids love helicopters. He sees kids all the time and never pays very much attention. As you can imagine, any young child seeing a colourful helicopter circling in the air, they generally wave anyway and say, look at me, look at me, I'm bouncing on the trampoline, can you see me, kind of thing.

24:45So that's why you tend to dismiss what they're doing. So I initially sort of discounted what he was saying, as if to say, not now, Neil, you know, I'm following the suspect. And he said, no, these kids in the field are lying in the shape of an arrow. And then it became apparent that the kids and the group of children who were out on this East Air cunt were actually trying to assist, saying, the other suspect has gone this way. How many kids were there? There were actually 12 altogether, but I think only eight of them, I think some didn't want to get muddy, but eight of them, I believe eight of them, actually formed the arrow.

25:32and bless them in order to help their public duty. They were prepared to sacrifice their Sunday best clothing and lay in a cloud field. The helicopter followed the arrow, and they found their suspect. Rory says both men were apprehended and charged with burglary. After they'd wrapped everything up, they landed the helicopter, and Rory got out to say hello and thank you to these children who'd helped solve the case. The parents said it was the children's idea. They said, we should form an arrow. And I think if my young child said that to me, I'd probably, prior to this event, say, don't be silly.

26:14Rory says the kids offered him some of their Easter candy.

26:22Hello? Logan? Oh, yes, this is Logan. Hi, Logan, it's Phoebe. Oh, hello, Phoebe. How are you doing? good thanks for doing this yeah um trying to help out so logan let's just start with you introducing yourself um so my name is logan and like that yeah tell me your first name and your last name all right um i'm logan holtman and yeah how old are you um i'm 10 years old 10 years old What do you think you want to be when you grow up?