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Back The Sorority Murder Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. Thirty-Six
  45. Thirty-Seven
  46. Thirty-Eight
  47. From the Journal of Candace Swain
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Letter Found in the Journal of Candace Swain
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. Booklist
  61. Excerpt

“Remember,” he said, “Candace was missing for over a week—but she was alive. We know this from the autopsy report, which indicates that she was murdered between ten in the evening and one in the morning the Saturday night before her body was found in the lake. Where was she all that time? Someone knows. Even if you only saw her in passing, anything you know will help us piece together her last days, and maybe together, we can solve this horrific crime.”

Her father settled back into his chair after handing Regan a bowl of cobbler. It was amazing, just like he said. He was having a bowl himself.

On the podcast, Lucas talked about how the missing-person case was handled before it turned into a murder investigation. He frequently paused, likely hoping for a call—but still no calls came in.

Lucas was right about one thing: the delay in reporting first to campus police, then to Flagstaff police, was problematic. Officer Carroll came on to explain how missing persons were handled by NAUPD. “There is no one standard protocol because each case is unique, but the first thing we do, in the absence of any indication of foul play, is to call the individual’s family, contact their friends both on campus and at home, and talk to their professors. Usually when a student is reported missing, it’s because they didn’t check in with someone when they were expected. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the individual is fine. But it is better to be embarrassed than to have something happen and no one look for you.

“For Candace Swain, we alerted all local law enforcement Wednesday, after we first contacted family and close friends, just in case she was with one of them and not really missing. We reached out to her parents and talked to the girls at the sorority and her professors. Her vehicle was on campus, which led us to believe that she may have walked off or called a ride. We checked with her off-campus boyfriend, the app-based rideshare companies, and taxis with the assistance of Flagstaff PD. Once we exhausted standard avenues, Flagstaff PD took over the investigation.”

Lucas said, “No one came forward to tell authorities that they saw Candace, which is unusual. Where was she? Did she leave town? Why? If you know anything about Candace Swain’s whereabouts during the time she was missing, please call in. Together, we can put together a time frame and re-create her final days.”

He paused. “My producer, Lizzy Choi, has a call holding for us. The caller wishes to remain anonymous.”

He sounded very excited as he took the call.

“Hi, caller. You’re on the air live with Lucas Vega. You told Lizzy, my producer, that you think you saw Candace on Sunday afternoon, after the party. Can you explain?”