In the book, I write about the disappearance and murder of these children, the capture of the killers and their pathways through our judicial system.
I also write about the effect the murders had on Carthage and Stella and offer a portrait of both communities.
In this opening chapter from Lost Angels, I take a look at Carthage as it was in 1993 when Doug Ringler disappeared.
Carthage, Missouri has a timeless quality that sets it apart from other southwest Missouri communities and gives it an identity unlike that of the other larger cities in Jasper County.
The biggest city in the county, Joplin, with a population of more than 50,000, has a rough-and-tumble reputation, only partially undeserved, as an outlet for crime, poverty and unscrupulous land developers and businessmen.
Though that reputation changed somewhat with the May 22, 2011 tornado that destroyed a third of the city, killed 161 people and created an enduring portrait of people who fought against tragedy and triumphed, the more years that pass since the tornado, the more time passes since the tornado, the more the city’s reputation returns to what it once was.
Webb City broke away from its reputation as a bedroom community for Joplin through the prowess of its high school football team, piling up state championships since the 1990s.
As growing poverty affected the reputation of Joplin schools, parents with athletic aspirations for their children flocked to Webb City, while those whose interests were more on the academic side moved into the Carl Junction school district or enrolled their children in the private Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School in Joplin.
While all of this continued, decade after decade, Carthage stood apart, a community that would have felt just as home in the 1950s as it did in the 1990s and to this day.
The centerpiece of the community is the Jasper County Courthouse, situated in the middle of the square. The architectural marvel is the second most photographed building in the state of Missouri and the first destination of tourists for decades.
Streets in Carthage are lined with historic homes, some of which have been turned into bed and breakfasts, others that have served generations of the same families.
The city takes pride in its history with a state park where a Civil War battle took place and a museum dedicated to that era.
The city, like Joplin, also lies on historic Route 66, with the still operating Boots Motel, a facility that boasts of once having actor Clark Gable as a guest.
Carthage is also known for its artists, including Precious Moments creator Sam Butcher, who lived in the city for a time and whose chapel is a tourist attraction, Lowell Davis, a rustic artist who moved and restored the buildings from his home town or Red Oak about 10 miles from Carthage to create another tourist attraction Red Oak II, Andy Thomas, Bill Snow, the late Bob Tommey and more.
The city has also had more than its share of prominent people who were born, grew up or spent a portion of their lives here including outlaw Belle Starr, baseball Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell (who despite some sources citing Carthage as his birthplace, actually was born in nearby Maple Grove), host of longtime television series Wild Kingdom Marlon Perkins and astronaut Janet Kavandi.
Industry was thriving with major employers including then Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt, a manufacturer of bedding components, H. E. Wllliams, Steadley Manufacturing and Butterball Turkey.
Retail businesses made profits, thanks to the tourists and local residents.
The community’s news was reported six days a week in the pages of the Carthage Press, an afternoon newspaper, one of the last of a dying breed.
The Press was a match for its community, placing an emphasis on history and the arts. Like many small town newspapers, it served as a cheerleader for the community, but did not shy away from controversy when events called for it.
During those last months of 1993, the pages of the Carthage Press were filled with articles and photos about the city’s annual Maple Leaf Festival, the crowning of Mr. and Miss Merry Christmas, Chamber of Commerce activities and photos of school events and activities, as well as coverage of Veterans Day events and historical articles on Carthage’s role in the Civil War and city resident Dick Ferguson’s status as a survivor of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
The newspaper offered extensive coverage of nearby ICI Explosives’ efforts to build an incinerator at its facility possibly causing a negative environmental impact on Carthage, detailing the company side as well as those who were fighting the installation.
The biggest story affecting Carthage during the latter portion of 1993 was the fall of a native who only one year earlier was on the precipice of being elected governor of Missouri.
The Carthage Press played no role in the investigation that revealed corruption in the way Attorney General Bill Webster had run his office, but Managing Editor Neil Campbell, who had been with the newspaper for more than two decades, assuming the reins while in his 20s, made no effort to kowtow to the city’s power brokers by downplaying the Webster scandal.
Campbell and veteran editors Marvin VanGilder and Jack Harshaw placed the Associated Press coverage of each new revelation prominently on page one even after receiving criticism from people who had the power to create problems for a publication that relied on advertising to survive.
Still, as the last week of 1993 began, the pages of the newspaper were filled with traditional year-end reviews.
The week between Christmas and New Year is generally a slow one for news, but that did not turn out to be the case for Carthage in 1993.
Only a few blocks from the square, the historic Jasper County Courthouse and the mansions, there was a different look to the community, one not shown by the Carthage Chamber of Commerce or the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Norma Ringler, a single mother, lived with her sons, Brad Gentry, 15, Chris Gentry, 11, and Doug Ringler, 8, in a home at 807 ½ S. Orner Street that had seen better days.
On December 28, 1993, Ringler allowed her sons to spend the night with a trusted family friend, Terry Cupp, 31, an employee at the Butterball plant, at his home, a white frame house at 919 S. Garrison, eight blocks from where Ringler lived.
Ringler and Cupp were neighbors until 1992 when Cupp moved out of his home on South Orner.
Cupp took the boys to see the Christmas light display of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, an annual holiday attraction and then to Gringo’s, a restaurant that served Mexican food.
Doug ate two chili burritos and had a large root beer.
It was his last meal.
When they returned to Cupp’s apartment and eventually prepared to retire for the night, Cupp told the boys, who were going to camp out on the floor, that if they got cold, they sleep with him in the bedroom.
When Chris awoke the following morning, his brother was gone. Cupp said Doug left a few moments earlier, which caught Chris off guard since he and Doug were planning to make money raking leaves for their neighbors.
Cupp took Chris Gentry to the Pancake Hut for breakfast then returned him to the Ringler home.
As time passed and Doug did not return, Norma Ringler grew more and more anxious. She knew her son frequently visited a lawnmower repair shop owned by Bob Moorehouse, so she went to the store and asked If he had seen Doug.
Moorehouse always enjoyed Doug’s visits. “He’s a good kid,” Moorehouse told an Associated Press reporter, “and he’s as honest as he can be. We give him the run of the place.”
But on that day, Doug had not stopped by and his mother’s concern grew.
She checked other places in the neighborhood, but there was no sign of her son.
At about noon, she called the Carthage Police Department and the search began.
“When he woke up, he told me he wanted to go,” Cupp told the Carthage Police and said it was nothing unusual, “He walks all over town all the time. His mother lets him do it.”
Cupp added, “Maybe he ran away.”
That thought crossed Carthage Police Chief Ed Ellefsen’s mind.
“Kids come up missing all the time. Most of the time we find them and nothing has happened to them.”
Word began to spread that the Hawthorne Elementary second grader was missing. Using a blown up school photo, his family and friends created posters asking people for any information on Doug’s whereabouts.
Norma and her friends went door-to-door, stopping at every home and business. Panic began to set in. No one had seen her son.
One of those canvassing the neighborhood, distributing flyers and seeking information was Norma’s friend Terry Cupp. Oddly, at one business Cupp said he could not remember Doug’s last name.
That kind of behavior, as well as his access to the boy the previous evening caused Ellefsen and his officers to be suspicious.
The information on the missing boy was released to the media and on television, radio and newspapers people were asked to look for a four foot tall, 80 pound boy with light blond, short straight hair, last seen wearing a black sweat suit with a picture of cartoon character Wile E. Coyote on it.
At that point, however, they still had every reason to believe Doug Ringler would be found alive.
***
Lost Angels: The Murders of Rowan Ford and Doug Ringler is available locally at Changing Hands Book Shoppe and Always Buying Books in Joplin, Pat's Books in Carthage and Granby Auto Supply and Hardware in Granby.
It can also be purchased in paperback and e-book formats from the Amazon links below.
No comments:
Post a Comment