Ep 4: Finding McKay

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They did. let us know that, you know, they were going to arrest Hilton Crawford, but we were not to talk about it.

McKay had now been missing for two and a half days. By that time, Carl and Paulette had started connecting the dots about Hilton as well.

People just started coming forward with just all these little tiny tidbits, and they watched. everybody who came and went. Well, who didn't show up was Connie and Hilton Crawford. Bingo. There you go.

Law enforcement still had no idea where McKay was.

Our primary concern is the safe return of McKay. And the key to that is Hilton.

Bob Lee was among the FBI agents and sheriff's deputies that set up for the arrest down the street from the Crawfords' home.

We probably had 12, 15 agents and police officers there at the time.

The officers prepared for the worst. Hilton was a former cop, running a security guard company, so he was presumed to be armed and dangerous. They waited until he left for work.

About 6.

Officers sped in and blocked Hilton's driveway with their vehicles. They leapt out, guns drawn, and yelled for him to exit the vehicle, hands in the air.

And there were four of us that approached him.

Hilton got out of the car slowly and raised his hands as the officers drew near. They leaned him against his car, cuffed him, and patted him down to search for weapons, but he was unarmed. Agent Donnie Miller remembers how the commotion drew neighbors out of their homes.

They were angry with us,

and there were women who were crying.

And they said, you have the wrong person.

That man could not have done this.

With McKay still missing, time was of the essence, so investigators began to question Hilton immediately.

We brought him in the house, and I started to interview him about the kidnapping.

The officer sat Hilton down at his dinner table and undid his handcuffs. He asked to speak to his wife, but the officers told him no.

I approached him really two ways. First of all, I wanted to let Hilton know the evidence that we had amassed against him so far and told him that there was absolutely no doubt that he had kidnapped McKay Everett, and these are the reasons why.

Agent Lee brought up how Bill Kahn had seen his car leaving the scene of the crime, that Hilton had lied about when he'd checked into the hotel, and that Irene Flores had confessed and ratted him out.

And to try to get him to talk to me, I was developing a theme that his wife and kids live in the community, and how she was gonna be perceived in the community depended in a large part on how he reacted right now. And he was cold. That had no effect on him. So then I turned it. Hilton, a lot depends on how you're gonna be treated when you're in prison.

From KSL Podcasts, I'm Art Rascone. This is Ransom, Position of Trust.

They needed someone to stay with Mrs. Crawford. And so I spent a lot of time at Mrs. Crawford's house. She was very shocked, as I remember, had no idea.

The upper middle-class splendor of Rivershaw holds graceful homes, wealthy residents,

and as of seven o'clock this morning, a crime scene. FBI agents gathered evidence of the residence of the suspect in the kidnapping of a 12-year-old boy.

The neighbors searched for questions,

but the FBI is not answering many. They're keeping a tight lid on this investigation into the kidnapping and even the search for the boy. But the Montgomery County Sheriff says all involved operate on the assumption that McKay Everett is still alive.

Cindy Rosenthal, the agent assigned to monitor Connie Crawford, was dumbfounded that McKay had been kidnapped by a close family friend.

It was just so hard to believe that someone who was loved by that family would do such a horrible thing. It was just, it was really shocking.

But at the same time, Hilton's friendship with the Everetts gave her hope that McKay was still alive.

You know, they have a close relationship. He knows this child. He wouldn't kill him.

The Everetts neighbor, Nancy Kahn, had a similar thought after Hilton was arrested.

He's going to be okay. You know, it was just a bad, bad, bad mistake. You know, so McKay's somewhere. We'll get him back. I mean, the biggest thing on all of our minds is where was he?

Nancy says she went over to see the Everetts after Hilton's arrest.

They say men don't cry and all that, but they do. Carl was very, very, very torn apart. And of course, Paulette, being, you know, the loving mother, she was to McKay, she was just devastated, you know, and just so hopeful, though. Both of them were very hopeful that they would see him again.

Five miles away, in the Montgomery County jail, Hilton Crawford had tears in his eyes. He allegedly told a jail guard that he needed to phone his wife because he'd made a terrible mistake. He said that McKay was being held in Louisiana by a man named Remington. Hilton said that Remington was supposed to put McKay on a bus and send him back to Houston, and that he'd show up any day now. But when investigators heard this story from the guard and tried to get more details out of Hilton, he clammed up.

One of the sheets of paper had Billy Allen's phone number on it.

And one of the special agents had gone up and interviewed this person. Allen said that he knew Hilton Crawford through horse racing, but he didn't know anything about McKay or the kidnapping. But five minutes after the agent left, Allen called him back. And said, I need you to come back up here to my place. I need to talk to you again.

He had met Billy Allen after he checked out of the West Western in Beaumont.

Allen says he returned home from an errand around 7.

And he took the agents to the storage shed and gave them the bag that Hilton had placed in there. And it contained a .45-caliber automatic pistol.

Investigators took the bag as evidence, then continued searching the storage facility. Inside, they found a car that Hilton had reported stolen three years earlier. Hilton had filed a claim saying his wife Connie's jewelry was in the trunk. when the car was stolen. He'd gotten around $40,000 from the insurance company.

I couldn't drive myself. My neighbor drove me. Connie was at her sister's house and the driveway was a long driveway. I said, don't pull up in the drive too far because we're unannounced and we're uninvited. As I was getting out, Connie ran down the driveway, clutching a bed pillow, screaming at me, McKay's dead, McKay's dead, I know he's dead.

Paulette says she asked Connie what she meant and how she knew that. And Connie yelled something about blood in the trunk of the car. Connie was clearly extremely upset. At the time, Paulette didn't know what to make of what Connie was raving about.

So I got her back in the house and they were eating hamburgers. And Connie's youngest son, I sat down on the sofa and he knelt down on his knees saying he was sorry. He was so, so sorry. And it just didn't feel right.

Paulette's mind kept returning to what Connie had yelled in the driveway about Hilton hiring a hit man and McKay being dead.

I noticed there was a bedroom off to the side. And I asked Ann Marie, that's Connie's sister, if I could take Connie in there and talk to her. And I took her in there.

After Hilton's arrest, the FBI had told Paulette that they were still searching for McKay and going off the assumption that he was alive. So Paulette didn't know if Connie was panicking and assuming the worst, or if Connie knew something about Hilton's crimes that law enforcement didn't.

I started asking her questions and she started answering me. So I went back out and I said, I need pencil and paper. So I went back in and when I would ask her questions, I would write the answer down. I asked her, when did she know something was wrong? I asked her to tell me the circumstances.

Connie told Paulette she had just learned that Hilton had made a bad business decision and lost a lot of money.

She said that they were in the chicken business and shipping chickens on big boats. As she was talking, I thought, this is so bizarre.

To Paulette, Connie's story didn't make much sense.

My first thought, this is nothing but a cover up for drugs. And he's been associated with very, very bad people.

But now wasn't a time to speculate about what had driven Hilton to do this. Paulette had come to ask for Connie's help.

I said, I need you to get down to that jail house and you don't come out of there until you've got a map of where my son is. And I said, you do that today.

Paulette had completed her part of the plan, but it had taken everything out of her.

I got back home. I told Carl, I'm not okay. physically. It feels like I have been mutilated with shards of glass. And I said, I have got to lay down.

Around noon that same day, a jail guard told Hilton Crawford they were moving him to a new cell. They walked him into a bullpen cell with a TV inside it. On screen, Hilton saw Carl Everett in jeans and a red polo shirt, standing in front of a row of microphones holding a football. The ball had writing on it. In permanent marker were the words from Uncle Hilty.

In my heart, I know you'll never harm my son. You loved him like your son.

You gave him his ball.

He called you Uncle Hilty. I still love you as I talk to you right now, but help me get my son back. I don't know what else I can tell you other than I'd love to bring this ball down and take you with me and go out and wherever McKay's at, and let's go play ball with him this afternoon. That's what I'd love to do right now. And Hilton, all it is is a decision on your part.

We don't have the full audio of this press conference, but we know from newspaper reporting that Carl's plea continued. Three weeks ago, we were at your home playing with this ball. And when we got ready to leave, I said, go, give Uncle Hilty a hug. And McKay came over and hugged you and kissed you on the forehead.

I don't know what has happened. I don't know who has stole the dreams in your heart and in your mind, but, Hilton, please don't take anything that's bad out on someone who's never done anything but good.

As soon as the press conference finished, it began again.

In my heart, I know you'll never harm my son.

The jail had recorded the live broadcast and looped it.

You gave him his ball.

Carl's pleas echoed and reverberated, bouncing off the hard surfaces of the jail cell walls.

I'd love to bring this ball down. In my heart, I know you'll never harm my son. And take you with me and go out and wherever McKay's at. You love him like your son. I'm gonna play ball with him.

That's what I'd love to do right now.

And Hilton's own hard exterior was starting to crack.

I don't know who has stole the dreams in your heart and in your mind, but, Hilton, please don't take anything that's bad out on someone who's never done anything but good.

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Kevin Crawford indicated that his brother, Christopher, spoke first. He spoke to his father mainly regarding immediate financial needs.

Although their mother, Connie, worked, Hilton was the one who managed the finances and he had all the family's bills sent to him at his office. With Hilton in jail, Connie was concerned about keeping the lights on at home.

Kevin Crawford also said his father apologized to him for using four of his credit cards. Kevin did not know the timeframe that his father had used the cards or which of the cards he had used. Shortly thereafter, Kevin had the opportunity to speak in more detail with their father with regard to the kidnapping of McKay Everett. He indicated that his father was sorry and embarrassed about the difficulties he had caused his family and his father told him that he had made a mistake and was grief-stricken.

Hilton told Kevin that he had gotten himself into a horrible financial situation and that the whole kidnapping fiasco had started with a man named R.

His father told him he had first met R.

Hilton told Kevin that Remington had been cagey. He had asked for Hilton's contact information but had never given Hilton his own.

Anytime they spoke on the telephone, Remington always called him. It was Kevin's understanding that his father never really knew Remington's identity and that the name may have been a fake name.

Hilton said that as Remington learned about his financial problems, Remington told him one of these kidnappings could be a solution.

At Remington's continued urging, Hilton indicated that he had undertaken the kidnapping.

But Hilton said it was a third individual who had actually knocked on the Everett's door to abduct McKay.

Hilton told Kevin that the other individual, who was not further identified, was dressed as a police officer. He grabbed McKay, put a hood over his head and threw him into the trunk of their automobile.

Hilton told his son that because McKay had the hood over his head, McKay never saw him or knew that he was involved.

After grabbing the child, they drove straight to Louisiana, where the child was passed to a high dollar maroon automobile bearing a Thibodeaux Motors dealer insignia. Kevin Crawford said his father told him that McKay Everett suffered one cut on his arm while held in the trunk. It was his understanding that the child was to be taken to New Orleans. His father also told him that it had been planned that the boy would be put on a bus and sent home. in the event, the kidnapping did not go as expected.

If Hilton's story proved true, there were now three accomplices who remained at large. R.L. Remington, the unnamed man who'd put the bag over McKay's head and the driver of the maroon car they'd met in Louisiana. We reached out to Hilton's sons to ask them about their recollections of this conversation, but they declined to speak to us.

All the investigators were running on adrenaline, trying to do everything they could to get McKay back.

As law enforcement worked the case, the rest of East Texas was on pins and needles, waiting to hear more about the investigation. Sheriff Williams' son went to the same school as McKay.

He told his mama later that the teachers would come up to school and say, is there anything from your dad about McKay? And he goes, I don't know, I haven't seen my dad in three days.

But detectives weren't sure if R.

I don't know, I got this, I don't know, feeling, thought to go to the jail and talk to Crawford. We didn't have anything to lose and everything to gain. But we knew that the odds of McKay being alive every hour it passed were diminished.

It was now Saturday, four days since McKay had disappeared. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 90% of abducted children are recovered within three days. But ransom kidnappings are so rare that the center doesn't even keep statistics on them. So in many ways, this kidnapping was uncharted territory. Still, Guy Williams realized it was key to get Hilton to talk as soon as possible.

You know, a lot of times a criminal, he wants to talk to the top dog. He wants to feel important. And so I played that to my advantage, because I hadn't played that card yet. So I went to the jail and one of the advantages of being the sheriff is you can come and go where you want to go. And I went back to his cell and I sit down and I said, I know you've got an attorney, but my main goal, Hilton, is to get that boy back.

Sheriff Williams knew Hilton a little bit. Hilton's wife, Connie, had been his son's first grade teacher.

And I said, everybody screws up at least once in their life, and it's how they respond to that. mess up is how you measure their character. And he put his head down. He kind of lowered his head a little bit. And I says, I'm not asking any questions.

Sheriff Williams says Hilton seemed to be stifling tears and there was a long pause.

And, you know, you saw a little kink in the armor and he says, I need to call my attorney. Would you wait around?

Sheriff Williams handed Hilton a phone and walked to an adjacent room to give him some privacy, as he called his attorney.

I walked over to one of our main pickets and went in with the deputies there and drank a cup of coffee. And he was on the phone, and all of a sudden he looks through the window and he motions to me to come back and I walk in the cell and he hands me the phone. It was his attorney. He says, he wants to talk to you. Don't talk till I get there and I'm en route.

Hilton also wanted to speak to his wife, Connie. It was agreed that Hilton could speak to Connie while he waited for his attorney to arrive.

I told Hilton we'd be back with him in a little bit and I called Bill Jones with the FBI and told Bill what had happened, and he says, I am en route. Cause. we didn't have a clue where McKay was, and that was our primary goal right then was to find that young man.

Connie Crawford and her two sons arrived at the jail and Sheriff Williams escorted her back to an interview room to speak to Hilton.

You could tell she lost a lot of sleep, cried a lot, had bags under her eyes,

They spoke for about half an hour before Hilton's lawyer, Jim Adams, arrived and joined them. Sometime later, Connie left the room, makeup, running down her face. Then Hilton's attorney emerged and said that Hilton wanted to talk to investigators, but Hilton was looking for assurances. Adams said that Hilton didn't want to go to prison in Louisiana. By this point, the FBI agent, Bill Jones, had arrived at the jail and Adams asked Jones to commit to a federal prosecution.

So the lawyer came there, Bill came, and I knew I had one shot at it. I had a yellow pad and a pencil and I sit down across the table from him and I just pushed over to him. I said, you know what I want? Tell me where he's at.

Hilton's hands were shaking so much that at first he couldn't even pick up the pen.

I remember. he says, do you know where Whiskey Bay is? I said, yes, on Interstate 10, in the actual Foliage Swamp. He goes, you'll find him here.

Next time on Ransom.

Law enforcement personnel were pretty much split.

down the middle over whether or not he actually did this.

I was yelling at McKay going, look at me, just look at me one more time. And he never turned around.

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