The reason he wouldn’t release these aspects was to protect the integrity of the investigation.

The thing was, although Wyatt’s name rang a bell, Noble had never met him. He didn’t know what Wyatt knew about the case, so he’d be careful.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Noble extended his hand when he entered the conference room. “Rod Noble.”

“No problem. Ray Wyatt, True Signal News, New York.”

Noble shut the door and sat in the swivel chair next to Wyatt, who had his notebook open and was sipping coffee.

“Your name’s familiar. Didn’t you write about that Starving Wolf case in Upstate New York?”

“Yes, when I was with First Press Alliance wire service.”

Noble nodded. “You went deep into the investigation and all the players, as I recall.” He thought for a moment, then said, “So you’re here about the Moore case. How can I help you?”

“We’ll soon be coming up on six months since she disappeared. I’m working on an in-depth piece on where things are. You know—a New York girl, with a heartbreaking life, on her way to Toronto to pursue a medical degree, vanishes in the Vermont countryside.”

Wyatt set out his recorder.

“May I record the interview?”

Noble nodded, and Wyatt switched the recorder on.

“So where are you with the case?”

“First, there are things I can’t discuss.”

“I understand. Every case has some holdback,” Wyatt said.

“So, here’s what I can tell you.”

For the next several minutes, Noble related the history of the case, starting with known facts and a timeline of events.

“To give you an idea of the scope…” Noble went on to list several police departments and agencies, including Orleans and surrounding counties, Vermont Wildlife, park rangers, wardens, the FBI, U.S. Border Patrol, and Canadian authorities. “They have all worked on the case.”

The investigation encompassed search operations into vast wooded sections of the area where Moore disappeared.

“We’ve also followed up on more than one hundred tips.”

“What are some examples of the tips?” Wyatt asked.

“Oh, let’s see. A sighting of a woman at a mall in Hartford, Connecticut, who resembled Samantha Moore. A conversation overheard in a bar in St. Johnsbury by someone claiming to know what happened. The discovery of human remains in a wooded area near Montpelier that, sadly, turned out to be a lost dementia patient. All of the tips were pursued, and none were concrete.”

Noble said investigators had also conducted more than 200 interviews, canvassing people in Spiritsburg, and all areas believed to be linked to the case. “Places along the route Moore and her boyfriend took leading up to her disappearance.”

“What about the vehicle stalking Moore when she was stranded and alone in the area called Lucifer’s Notch?”

“I can’t go into that. It’s still being investigated.”

“Did you get video from the dash camera in Moore’s pickup truck?”