Pregnant and Missing: The Unsolved Disappearance of Ali Gilmore

WEBVTT
1
00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:13.039
In early two thousand and six, a thirty year old
2
00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:16.920
woman in Tallahassee was four months pregnant and navigating a
3
00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:21.920
tricky time in her life. Cautiously optimistic about welcoming her
4
00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:26.160
rainbow baby, she was also going through some personal troubles.
5
00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:29.839
Her and her husband had been separated for a few months,
6
00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:33.640
and she was casually seeing another man, whom she was
7
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:36.560
breaking things off with to work on her marriage and
8
00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:41.000
prepare for the arrival of the baby. After a regular
9
00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.960
day of working her nine to five office job, followed
10
00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:47.320
by her side gig at a grocery store bakery, she
11
00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:50.640
headed home to get off her feet. That was the
12
00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.880
last anyone saw her, even though she was normally in
13
00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:59.000
touch with friends, family, and coworkers every single day. A
14
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.640
series of events led to her not being reported missing
15
00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:08.040
for a few days. The investigation revealed persons of interest
16
00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:12.040
clues around a late night telephone call and a missed
17
00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:18.400
counseling appointment. All of these things paved the way for theories. Finally,
18
00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:22.599
fifteen years after her disappearance, more of what happened that
19
00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:26.400
night came into light, but it still hasn't been enough to.
20
00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:27.359
Close the case.
21
00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:31.439
I'm your host Megan and Each week on a Simpler
22
00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:36.079
Time True Crime, I cover older unsolved cases and challenged
23
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.920
the idea that a simpler time meant a safer time.
24
00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:42.480
This week, I'm bringing to you the unsolved disappearance of
25
00:01:42.519 --> 00:02:04.760
Allie Gilmour. Hi.
26
00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:05.280
Everyone.
27
00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:08.240
Before I get into the case today, I just want
28
00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:11.240
to give a quick content warning that today's case does
29
00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:17.360
have discussion of miscarriage, pregnancy complications, and child loss. I
30
00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:20.879
also just want to give this quick legal disclosure before
31
00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:24.240
we begin. I want to note that this episode discusses
32
00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:28.599
individuals who have been publicly identified by law enforcement as
33
00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:33.360
persons of interest or potential suspects. Because of that, I
34
00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.400
use their real full names. The fact that someone is
35
00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.599
discussed in an investigation does not mean they committed a crime.
36
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.560
Unless otherwise stated. No one mentioned in this episode has
37
00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:51.479
been convicted in connection with Ali Gilmore's disappearance, and all
38
00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:56.080
individuals are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in
39
00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.759
a court of law. So with that established, let's get
40
00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:04.479
into it. It's the early evening of Monday, February sixth,
41
00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.080
and Karen Freeman is concerned. Karen works for the Florida
42
00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.080
Department of Health and supervises a woman who is also
43
00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:14.639
her very close friend, thirty year.
44
00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:15.719
Old Allie Gilmore.
45
00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.240
Ellie hadn't shown up for work that Monday, which was
46
00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.319
very out of character for her, But what was even
47
00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:25.360
more concerning to Karen is that she found out Allie
48
00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:28.919
hadn't shown up to work on Friday either. She had
49
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.319
actually spoken to Allie later in the evening on Thursday
50
00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.400
the second, when Ellie called her to discuss something she
51
00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:39.240
needed advice on, but Allie hadn't indicated at all that
52
00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.560
she would be absent on Friday. Unfortunately, Karen woke up
53
00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.919
sick on Friday and had to take the day off,
54
00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.960
so she didn't know about Ellie's absence in real time.
55
00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.800
Her colleagues didn't know what to make of her absence Friday,
56
00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:55.520
even though it wasn't like her not to call. She
57
00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.199
had mentioned to them that she would be in the
58
00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.000
office later that morning because she had a counseling appointment
59
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.080
at nine, so initially they just thought that maybe it
60
00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:07.439
got bumped back or there was a reasonable explanation. When
61
00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.039
Karen arrived to work Monday and found out about Ellie's absence,
62
00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.479
and then Allie didn't show up to work, on Monday.
63
00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.600
She began trying to call Ellie's home, but the phone
64
00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:21.560
just rang and rang with no answer, so she decided
65
00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.199
to head to Ellie's house with another colleague, a woman
66
00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:25.439
named Liz Denson.
67
00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.160
The two pulled up to Alli's.
68
00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.560
Home at two thirty one Lorraine Court, a modest home
69
00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:37.319
tucked into a quiet neighborhood on the southeast side of Tallahassee.
70
00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.040
The area was made up of residential streets and single
71
00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.839
family homes. Alli's street was part of a cul de sac,
72
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:47.560
which was a perfect low traffic street great for raising kids.
73
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.360
The southeast side of Tallahassee was a growing area in
74
00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:55.360
the early two thousands, attracting families, young professionals, and state
75
00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.040
employees looking for a little more space than they might
76
00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:02.560
find closer to downtown. It blended suburban neighborhoods with the
77
00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:07.360
natural landscape. North Florida is known for tree lined streets
78
00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.759
patches of forest in winding roads. Gave the area a
79
00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.199
distinctly different feel from the crowded coastal cities that often
80
00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:18.560
come to mind when people think of Florida. When they
81
00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:21.319
got to Ali's home, they noticed that her vehicle was
82
00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:24.519
in the driveway They knocked at the door and on
83
00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:28.519
the front windows, but nobody came to answer. They noticed
84
00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.920
that Ali's bedroom light was on, as was her floodlight.
85
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.800
Something felt eerie and off about the scene, so they
86
00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:40.199
decided to call police for a welfare check. That welfare
87
00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.839
check would soon follow with a missing person's report because
88
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:47.120
law enforcement would make entry and not find any sign
89
00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.639
of Ali. Her house looked tidy, no signs of a struggle.
90
00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.279
It wasn't ransacked, nothing looked like it was taken. The
91
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.319
house had been locked up completely, except for a window
92
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.040
that was left unlocked in the house. His spare bedroom
93
00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:06.040
on one side of the one story home. Allie's car
94
00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:08.800
was in the driveway and her purse was sitting inside
95
00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:12.319
of it. Inside the purse was a set of work keys. However,
96
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.199
her car keys and her house keys were missing.
97
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.360
They were nowhere in the house and not in the car.
98
00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.160
It would soon be established that the last time people
99
00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:26.720
saw and spoke to Allie happened on Thursday evening, February third.
100
00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.199
Law enforcement needed to make contact with Ellie's loved ones
101
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.519
to make them aware of her disappearance, but to do so,
102
00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:36.279
they'd need to reach out all the way to the
103
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:40.720
opposite end of the Sunshine State. This next part where
104
00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:43.800
I get into her upbringing. I relied heavily on reporting
105
00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.399
from Stephen Price of the Tallahassee Democrat and all have
106
00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:49.759
all sources linked in the show notes, but wanted to
107
00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:53.759
give him a shout out here. Allie Gilmore was born
108
00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:58.519
Allie Grimsly to her mother Lorvetta Grimsly and father, Percy
109
00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:03.519
Walker Senior, on January fifth, nineteen seventy six. She was
110
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:08.360
named after the famous heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali. She never
111
00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.800
knew her father when she was growing up, and for
112
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.639
the first decade of her life, Ali was raised by
113
00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.360
her mother's niece due to some issues going on in her.
114
00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:17.399
Mother's life at the time.
115
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:22.000
She grew up six hours away from Tallahassee in Riviera Beach,
116
00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:26.240
within the Palm Beach County community, which Stephen Price described
117
00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:30.639
as a community quote polarized by race and money end quote.
118
00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:35.040
While the waterfront and nearby coastal communities like Singer Island
119
00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:38.600
were home to some of the area's wealthiest residents, many
120
00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:43.560
neighborhoods within Riviera Beach itself faced persistent poverty and disinvestment.
121
00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.120
The divide was often described not only in terms of money,
122
00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.000
but race as well, with many of the affluent coastal
123
00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:55.120
areas being predominantly white and much of Riviera Beach's.
124
00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.040
Population being black.
125
00:07:57.319 --> 00:08:00.560
When Ali turned eleven, her mom was positioned to take
126
00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:04.800
her back, and apparently ran a very strict household. It
127
00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:07.360
came from a place of love. She had to work
128
00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.720
so hard to keep a roof over their heads. She
129
00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:14.399
worked multiple jobs and so she just had strict rules
130
00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.040
to try to get her kids on the right track.
131
00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:19.920
So the kids had to dress modestly, take school seriously,
132
00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:21.920
help herund the house. They had to be home when
133
00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:25.160
the street lights came on, and when they turned eighteen, they.
134
00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:26.759
All had to register to vote.
135
00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.680
Allie's mother married Carl mclaurence, who stepped in as a
136
00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:35.360
fatherly role to Ali. She never did get a chance
137
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:38.039
to meet her biological father because by the time she
138
00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:40.720
found out who he was at ten years old, he
139
00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:45.159
had already died. Carl told Stephen Price that at one
140
00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:48.679
point when Ali was in high school, neighborhood gangs were
141
00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.759
attacking girls in the neighborhood, so he offered to walk
142
00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.519
her to the bus stop and wait with her, but
143
00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.840
he said, Ali was just no nonsense. She'd give you
144
00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.200
a sweet smile, but she didn't put up with anything
145
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.600
from anybody. Ellie attended school outside.
146
00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:04.960
Of her neighborhood.
147
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.600
She went to Jupiter High School, and to do so,
148
00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.799
she had to get up extra early to catch the bus,
149
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.559
waking up at five am to catch the bus while
150
00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:15.960
it was still dark out. She was a standout athlete
151
00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.639
who ran track, and that meant that sometimes she wouldn't
152
00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.960
get home until super late at night, so these were
153
00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.720
really long school days for her. After graduating from Jupiter
154
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.159
High School, she decided to attend Florida a M University,
155
00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:32.879
which is what brought her to Tellhassee. She loved the
156
00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:35.600
community there and decided to plant roots.
157
00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:37.840
Through college, she worked.
158
00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.000
In the bakery at Publics and loved that job. After
159
00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.080
graduating with her degree in nineteen ninety eight in Health
160
00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.679
information Management, she began working for the state Department of
161
00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:51.360
Health as a statistical analyst. She also kept her job
162
00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:54.720
at Publics as well, working in the bakery on occasional
163
00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:56.600
evenings and weekends.
164
00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:58.840
She was really social.
165
00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.480
She had a big social ste circle both locally and
166
00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:04.399
back home. She kept in touch with her friends from
167
00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.440
the West Palm Beach area, particularly her close friend from
168
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.200
high school whom she had thrown her a baby shower
169
00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.200
and was even in her delivery room when she gave
170
00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.320
birth to her son. That friend had brought that story
171
00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:17.279
up because she said she planned the most over the
172
00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.720
top baby shower for her and it was all coordinated
173
00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.840
and cute and themed. And this as you know, before
174
00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:26.840
Pinterest was even out there. Social media was newer. Actually,
175
00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:29.120
this particular friend had like an eight year old, so
176
00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.559
this was in the nineties when this baby was born,
177
00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:34.039
and so you know, no social media, nothing to get
178
00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:36.639
all these themed ideas like we do nowadays. But she
179
00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:40.799
just was naturally creative like that. Not only did Ali
180
00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:43.720
call friends and family often, she was also known to
181
00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.799
email and would send life updates and inspirational messages out
182
00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:51.480
almost every day to the people she loved. And she
183
00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:54.919
also cultivated a large friendship group in Tallahassee and was
184
00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:58.759
particularly close with her boss at the health Department, Karen Freeman.
185
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.759
A year after Ellie graduated from college, she was at
186
00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.879
Governor's Square Mall one night when she bumped into a
187
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.399
cute guy selling picture frames from a booth.
188
00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:10.200
I don't know about you. Guys.
189
00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.000
But when I'm at the mall and I see people
190
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.200
working at those kiosks, I just try not to make
191
00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.279
eye contact and keep it moving so they don't try
192
00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:18.919
to sell me something, you know, If you know, you know,
193
00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:20.360
that's how I try to handle those.
194
00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:21.200
But she was.
195
00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:24.639
Actually on the lookout for a photo frame. She was
196
00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:28.120
looking for one for her graduation picture, and I'm sure
197
00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.039
seeing the handsome man who was working helped motivate her
198
00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.879
to maybe approach. The charismatic man at the kiosk was
199
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.159
James Gilmore. She made a return visit a few days
200
00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:42.639
later and he asked her for her phone number. The
201
00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:46.840
two began dating, and just eight months later, James took
202
00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:49.440
her back to where they met at Governor Square Mall
203
00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:53.679
and got down on one knee to propose. She was
204
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.279
very happy to say yes and start her life with
205
00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.679
James and everything their future entailed. James was a bit
206
00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.840
older than Ali, and he had already been married before
207
00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:07.080
and had three children of his own. James said that
208
00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:10.759
Ali took the role of being a stepmother just instantly.
209
00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:12.440
She was a natural with his kids.
210
00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:17.240
As we know, sometimes when you're blending families together, that
211
00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.919
can really impact relationship dynamics, but that was not the case.
212
00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.279
They had their share problems, which I'll get into in
213
00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.360
a moment, but for the most part, it wasn't about
214
00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:30.120
his kids. She really cared about his kids. James and
215
00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.759
Ali were married in October of two thousand. Ali wanted children,
216
00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:38.200
but wasn't in any immediate hurry. First, they purchased the
217
00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:41.720
home together on Lorraine Court. Much like how she planned
218
00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.279
a party, Elli coordinated every bit of the house. She
219
00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.240
planted flowers, made the yard beautiful, and picked out coordinating
220
00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.720
mailbox address stickers to kind of match the house, which
221
00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.720
is so cute. Then, in summer of two thousand and five,
222
00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.919
Ali was elated to find out she was pregnant. Right away,
223
00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.399
she began picking out baby clothes and planning for the baby,
224
00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:07.440
but within a month she started experiencing bleeding and her
225
00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.480
and James got the heartbreaking news that she was suffering
226
00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:15.240
a miscarriage. This took its toll on the couple, who
227
00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:18.600
were already beginning to have some issues in their marriage.
228
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.879
From the perspective of James, he said they just were
229
00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:27.159
having generalized strains in the marriage. They weren't communicating well,
230
00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:29.919
and that he felt they weren't spending enough time together.
231
00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:34.360
Allie had confided in friends that she was feeling financial
232
00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.320
constraints and was sick of having to work a second job.
233
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.720
This was made more difficult by the fact that he
234
00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.879
wasn't She definitely out earned him, and then on top
235
00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:46.240
of it, he was having to pay a lot of
236
00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.039
child support to his ex.
237
00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:51.320
Which you know, that's a factor. That's just how it goes.
238
00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:55.279
If you have kids with someone and they have primary
239
00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.320
custody for the most part, you're going to be paying
240
00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.960
a lot of child support. But that absolutely can put
241
00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.960
a strain on a relationship. So when I say their
242
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.279
fights weren't about the children, she adored his children. It
243
00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:10.840
was just the financial constraints that she was feeling and
244
00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:12.720
having to carry all the weight of the money in
245
00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:18.080
the household. Things boiled over later that fall in November,
246
00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.840
and James moved out of the home. Just two days
247
00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:25.600
after he left, Ali found out she was pregnant again.
248
00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:39.039
We're going to revisit the social and personal dynamics in
249
00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.720
Allie's life again in a moment, but first I want
250
00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.279
to pick back up to the physical search for her.
251
00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:48.679
After she was reported missing on Monday evening, February sixth,
252
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.639
two thousand and six. Now, right away, police labeled the
253
00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:57.080
disappearance as suspicious, and they took it seriously. They began
254
00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:00.039
canvassing and speaking to neighbors as well as friends and
255
00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:03.679
family who had recently spoken with Ali. They also began
256
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:09.000
searching around the immediate neighborhood and beyond. Unfortunately, starting with
257
00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:12.639
the evening Ali left work on Thursday, all the way
258
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.240
through Saturday, there had been severe thunderstorms in the area
259
00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.519
that were accompanied by heavy rainfall. This made it bringing
260
00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.440
scent tracking dogs in very difficult because the neighborhood was
261
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.879
relatively new and new homes were still being built. Searches
262
00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:31.519
were conducted around any construction areas, and they looked for
263
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:35.759
fresh dirt and things like that as well, but no luck.
264
00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:40.799
Nobody in the neighborhood reported hearing any screaming, commotion, or
265
00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:45.080
witnessing anything alarming. As I said before, the house was
266
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.039
not in disarray, but the Tallahassee Police Department did bring
267
00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:52.440
in the forensics unit just to cover their bases and
268
00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:54.639
look for any evidence that may not be caught with
269
00:15:54.679 --> 00:16:00.519
the naked eye. As physical searches continued, nine family members
270
00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:04.039
came up to the Tallahassee area, and most of them
271
00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:08.799
decided to stay without a predetermined endpoint, they just had
272
00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:12.519
to stick around and find Ali. You guys, I know
273
00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.519
it's the case with every family with these cases, But
274
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:20.440
when I tell you just the outpouring of emotion and
275
00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:23.480
what they shared about Ali in these newspaper articles in
276
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.639
the media at the time, you can just tell they
277
00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.960
loved her so much, and her family just had the
278
00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.960
utmost concern and they were just doing everything.
279
00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:35.399
The concern from the.
280
00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:38.759
Community was palpable, and when a vigil was held outside
281
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:41.799
of her home, it was just more confirmation of the
282
00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:45.240
social circle she had built there. One hundred and fifty
283
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:49.799
people came out and cried alongside Ali's sisters and family,
284
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.200
and despite their sadness, they tried to keep hope in
285
00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:56.080
the conversation and talked about all the things they loved
286
00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:58.879
about Ali, like her delicious red velvet cake she'd make,
287
00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.960
her potatoes salad recipe, and her love for gardening. People
288
00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.599
really wanted to help, and within the first month, rewards
289
00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.279
were being offered and they just kept increasing, with one
290
00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:15.279
person even anonymously offering a thirty thousand dollars reward to
291
00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.559
crime stoppers for information. It seemed like anybody who crossed
292
00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:21.440
paths with her wanted to find a way to help.
293
00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:24.200
Even the people who owned the restaurants she was a
294
00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:26.880
patron to would say, how can we help find Ali?
295
00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:27.559
What can we do?
296
00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.839
Can we contribute? Allie attended a church called Christian Heritage
297
00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:36.799
Church that had a four thousand member congregation, and church
298
00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.240
leadership shared her missing Persons flyer out to all church
299
00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:44.400
members on their distribution list. Her alma mater, Florida A
300
00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.759
M University did the same thing, sending emails out to
301
00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:53.400
current students and alumni. Her family, meanwhile, in friends canvassed
302
00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:56.640
with flyers and tried to keep hitting new neighborhoods to
303
00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:59.920
discuss her case. Law enforcement was able to get the
304
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.559
case showcased on some of the major TV platforms, and
305
00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.599
a billboard was put up on a local highway, also
306
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:11.519
funded by donations. Still, police didn't have a ton of
307
00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:14.480
clues to go on, and what they did have they
308
00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:19.200
were keeping close. By April, they told the public that
309
00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.480
they had four persons of interest in her case and
310
00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.720
that they suspected foul play in her disappearance. Because of
311
00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.440
the time that had passed and the circumstances. You see,
312
00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:34.119
after her miscarriage, Ali had been extremely careful with this pregnancy.
313
00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:39.359
She wouldn't drive long distances, she didn't lift heavy things,
314
00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:41.079
and she didn't even take.
315
00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:41.960
The stairs places.
316
00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:47.240
This caution didn't match up with any sort of spontaneous disappearance.
317
00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:52.279
Without telling anyone, police in Tallahassee would not name persons
318
00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.799
of interest besides her estranged husband James. However, when it
319
00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:59.759
came to James, they said they just couldn't rule them out,
320
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:01.880
and that he was, of course somebody they had to
321
00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:04.680
look closely at because of the marital issues in because
322
00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.359
you know, you always look at the partner first, but
323
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:12.440
they said that he had been extremely cooperative. James avoided
324
00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:15.519
the media at first, but then broke his silence, saying
325
00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:18.359
he wanted Ali back more than anything and that she
326
00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.200
was carrying his baby who was missing along with her.
327
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.000
In the meantime, James moved back into the family home
328
00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:29.599
on Lorraine Court. A search team led by a local
329
00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:33.119
chapter of Class Kids, which is in memory of Polyclass
330
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:36.119
who was murdered in California in the nineties. They came
331
00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:40.000
to do a search in deep into National Forest Territory
332
00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:42.960
areas but that turned up nothing. They actually ended up
333
00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.240
doing a few different searches, and they were pretty involved
334
00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.920
with this. That's because they had been invited in by
335
00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:52.359
Ali's family, and they even went on to say that
336
00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.440
they felt so welcomed that Ali's family trusted them with
337
00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:59.839
searching for her. Months went on without a sign of
338
00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:04.759
all and eventually her July eighteenth due date came and went.
339
00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:08.559
It was at this time that a bit more about
340
00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.279
the investigation came out and what timeline they were able
341
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.799
to put together for Allie's last movements. But before we
342
00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.480
get into her final known movements, let's back it up
343
00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:25.839
even further to the separation from James. It was discovered
344
00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:31.200
during the investigation that during their separation, Ali began seeing
345
00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:35.160
someone named Dwight. Her family knew of him, but didn't
346
00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.680
know much about him other than Ali didn't seem that
347
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:43.480
serious about him. One of Ali's neighbors, who also identified
348
00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:47.000
himself as close friends with her, a man named Gary Morone,
349
00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.279
said that this Dwight guy she was dating was a
350
00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:52.799
truck driver, and he described him as a light skinned
351
00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:56.559
black man, muscular with curly hair, and neighbors would see
352
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:02.559
him outside washing Allie's car by January, Allie's sister said
353
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.319
that Alli wanted to focus on reconciling with James and
354
00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:10.119
that the two had begun counseling. She was already planning
355
00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:12.559
her baby shower, and she was slated to find out
356
00:21:12.599 --> 00:21:15.839
the sex of her baby on Valentine's Day, a little
357
00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:19.640
over a week after she disappeared. She felt she was
358
00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.200
having a girl and already picked out a shade of
359
00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:26.240
pink to match in the nursery. When investigators went to
360
00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:29.200
her workspace, they found pregnancy books as well as yellow
361
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.480
sticky notes with baby name ideas on them, both boy
362
00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.359
and girl names, all starting with Jay, because she wanted
363
00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:39.680
the baby to have the same initials as James. Her
364
00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:42.720
sister stated that Alli really loved James and was very
365
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:46.559
protective of him. James said that when Alli approached him
366
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:49.599
about reconciliation, he agreed and said they had to find
367
00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:52.599
a way to work it out. He wasn't moving in
368
00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:55.559
just yet. He wasn't moving back, but they were taking
369
00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:00.359
it slow, working through their marital issues in counseling. In
370
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.480
the week leading up to her disappearance, starting with that Monday,
371
00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:07.839
coworkers and friends stated that she was in a great mood.
372
00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.240
She was feeling good about reconciling things with her husband,
373
00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:14.920
and she talked about their upcoming counseling appointment that Friday,
374
00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:20.319
the third. At nine am that Thursday, the second, Allie
375
00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:23.279
was stressed and down. When she got to work that day.
376
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.640
She told her coworkers that her property had just been
377
00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:30.160
reassessed and that the taxes went up significantly and she
378
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:32.000
just wasn't sure how she was going to be able
379
00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:36.519
to afford them. This was definitely not the burden she needed,
380
00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:39.839
because she was hoping to reduce or eliminate her hours
381
00:22:39.880 --> 00:22:43.559
at Publics in the bakery, especially as her pregnancy went
382
00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.839
on and with the upcoming birth of the baby that summer.
383
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:51.119
At five pm, Allie got off work from the Department
384
00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:53.720
of Health and she drove over to her second job
385
00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:58.599
at Publics. The drive was treacherous and the area was
386
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:05.160
experiencing severe thunderstorms. That shift started at six pm. Sometime
387
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.839
during that shift, she took a break and she gets
388
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:11.839
a couple slices of pizza from Pizza Hut. Work must
389
00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:13.960
have been a little on the slower side that night,
390
00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:17.240
because she also made a couple of phone calls. At
391
00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:20.359
one point, she called her supervisor, Karen Freeman, as I
392
00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.599
mentioned earlier, and the issue she was looking for advice
393
00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:28.000
on was the tax issue. At eight forty five pm,
394
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.839
James Gilmore says he receives a call from Ali. She
395
00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:35.000
reminds him of the nine am counseling appointment they're supposed
396
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:37.720
to both attend in the morning, and she tells him
397
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:42.119
she loves him and gets off the phone. At eleven PM,
398
00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.039
she gets off of work at Publics and we know
399
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:47.880
she makes it home because she places the two slices
400
00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:48.920
of pizza.
401
00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.960
In the refrigerator. Here is the.
402
00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:56.839
New big clue they released, though mainly through Ali's family
403
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.160
at this time because police wouldn't speak on it. But
404
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.759
police told her family that at twelve forty seven am
405
00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.319
on that Friday morning, Allie so think Thursday she gets
406
00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:10.440
home from work. Now we're in the early morning hours
407
00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:13.799
of Friday, that same Friday, that she doesn't show up
408
00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.160
to work. At twelve forty seven am, Allie gets a
409
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.880
phone call, but police will not tell them who this
410
00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:25.759
phone call is from. Now, neither Ali nor James shows
411
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.880
up to that counseling appointment at Friday at nine am.
412
00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:33.279
According to James, he overslept and didn't make it. He
413
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.359
tried calling Allie at work to apologize, but of course
414
00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:39.599
she was not there, he said. He later tried calling
415
00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:44.039
the house, also without success. James reports that on Saturday
416
00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:46.480
he shows up to the residence and sees her car there.
417
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.799
He knocks at the door, but nobody answers. He assumes
418
00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:53.720
she's just really angry with him for missing the appointment,
419
00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.960
and he leaves, and then, of course he finds out
420
00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:02.200
on Monday that she's missing. There is just one contradiction
421
00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:06.240
to this story, though. A neighbor of Alley's, a man
422
00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:10.440
named Dan McGee, said that he saw James's car and
423
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:12.799
he said he was ninety percent sure it was his car.
424
00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:15.480
He said he saw it there Friday morning at seven thirty,
425
00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.400
and he actually said to himself, oh wow, they must
426
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:21.559
be working things out. You might be saying, okay, well,
427
00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:24.960
James places himself there on Saturday. Any chance Dan was
428
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:28.640
mixing up his days, no, because he says he saw
429
00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.599
what he thought to be James's car at seven point
430
00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:34.519
thirty on Friday when he came out with his daughter
431
00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.160
to drive her to school. He said that by the
432
00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.359
time he got back from dropping her off at eight
433
00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:43.559
ten am, the car was no longer in the driveway. Also,
434
00:25:43.799 --> 00:25:47.839
James places himself at the house on Saturday evening looking
435
00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:51.279
for her. When his Saturday morning phone calls went unanswered.
436
00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:56.680
Tallahassee police gave James a voice stress test when and
437
00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.359
they said that he had no signs of deception and
438
00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:05.759
that he was fully cooperating with the investigation. I will say,
439
00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:09.079
just as an observation, if James did this and he
440
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:11.799
was trying to cover it up, showing up to the
441
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.960
counseling session would have been the smart move. He looks
442
00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:18.920
objectively bad missing the counseling appointment, and that makes him
443
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.079
look more suspicious, So that would be an odd choice
444
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:24.839
for him to make. Though if he did have something
445
00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.799
to do with it, you know, maybe he was not
446
00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:29.279
available to be at the counseling session, and then the
447
00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:32.119
phone call apologizing is sort of his way of trying
448
00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:35.559
to cover and craft a story. It's hard to say,
449
00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.759
and I'm absolutely certainly not accusing him of anything, because
450
00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.880
police have gone on record to say that they, you know,
451
00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:45.680
felt he cooperated. I'm just talking through the details out loud.
452
00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:48.799
It's hard to come up with an explanation. Of the
453
00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:52.839
neighbor identifying his car there Friday morning, and I'm unaware
454
00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:55.920
of what, if any alibi police have been able to
455
00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:58.519
track down for his time on Friday. Later on, they
456
00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:01.200
would speak to one a little bit more, but it's
457
00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:04.880
not anything they made really clearly public in the investigation.
458
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:09.480
I'm also surprised that he wouldn't try to make entry
459
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.599
on Saturday. I'm sure he had a key, but maybe
460
00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:15.160
he thought she was really mad and so he was
461
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.559
just trying to give her the space to cool off.
462
00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:23.039
For months, two detectives worked the case exclusively, filling eleven
463
00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:27.759
binders with interviews and information. However, by the one year mark,
464
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.880
they were still the lead detectives, but had scaled back.
465
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.880
They needed the break to come from someone in the community,
466
00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:39.039
someone who may have information. At that one year mark,
467
00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:42.640
the family held a vigil outside her home, which her husband, James,
468
00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.440
was tearfully a part of. He said he was about
469
00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.319
to graduate with his degree, something that his missing wife
470
00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:51.680
had pushed him to pursue. He said that the thought
471
00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.720
of not knowing was the most difficult, as well as
472
00:27:54.759 --> 00:27:57.880
living with a cloud of suspicion around him. He said
473
00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:00.160
he didn't even realize at first the extent of the
474
00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:04.240
suspicion until he went on the internet and began reading comments.
475
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.480
He told the Tallahassee Democrat, quote, I had no idea
476
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:12.720
so many people suspected me. I wouldn't hurt anyone, much
477
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:13.880
less my wife.
478
00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:15.640
End quote.
479
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:18.680
For the one year anniversary, the paper interviewed the detectives
480
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.359
working the case, Tom Meldie and J. D.
481
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:21.799
Hoover.
482
00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:26.759
When asked about the mysterious early morning phone call, Hoover said, quote,
483
00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:30.359
it's certainly important to us, but it doesn't open any doors.
484
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:33.480
It's not the defining moment as to what happened to
485
00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:38.400
Allie end quote. And that's kind of where things stood.
486
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:43.319
And up to this point, Ali's family seemed relatively diplomatic
487
00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:46.400
in the way they talked about her husband, James. Again,
488
00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:49.279
they're having these vigils at the house. He's part of them.
489
00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:52.039
But in March of two thousand and seven, things get
490
00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:55.359
a little tense out in the open. It was then
491
00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:58.599
that a judge ruled that James could be the beneficiary
492
00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:02.680
of Allie's assets. Her family was unhappy with that decision
493
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:06.759
and said they planned to appeal. Her sister said, quote,
494
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:10.160
it's too early to move on and worry about the benefits.
495
00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:12.759
We're trying to find Ali and he's trying to get
496
00:29:12.759 --> 00:29:16.440
her benefits. He never assisted with the searches. He doesn't
497
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:21.480
deserve anything, not a dime. James defended himself and said
498
00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:23.680
he was doing this to get by because their house
499
00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:27.279
had gone into foreclosure. In a letter filed in the
500
00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:32.680
foreclosure suit, James stated, my wife Ali is the primary
501
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.920
source of income in our home, and her income took
502
00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:39.519
care of our mortgage payment. My income in our home
503
00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.160
is used to supplement hers when taking care of expenses
504
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:48.759
such as utilities, phone, furniture, etc. Ali's family said they
505
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:51.440
offered to help James pay for the house expenses, but
506
00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.960
he refused. When asked about the family animosity towards him,
507
00:29:56.039 --> 00:29:58.559
James said, quote, I'm just trying to look out for
508
00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:01.240
myself and me and Ali's stuff the best I can.
509
00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:04.559
They really don't know as much as they might think
510
00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:07.640
they know as far as my situation or anything Ali
511
00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:12.279
and I did in getting this house. The financial documents
512
00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.839
showed the assets that James would get would be the
513
00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:18.880
value of the Lorraine Court House, valued one hundred and
514
00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.960
twenty thousand dollars at that time. A bank account of
515
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:24.920
hers leave pay from her job at the Florida Department
516
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:28.079
of Health and her retirement funds, which they didn't have
517
00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:31.440
a dollar amount to match with those. And therein lies
518
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:35.519
the issue that Allie's family had, because their whole stance was,
519
00:30:35.559 --> 00:30:38.160
if he was truly about just paying the bills, you
520
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.799
would take us up on our offer rather than cash
521
00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:44.039
out her assets. But you're looking to just get this money.
522
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.720
So yeah, pretty messy. In May of two thousand and seven,
523
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:52.079
her case was featured in a segment of Dateline, and
524
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.960
there police dropped another little breadcrumb. They said that they
525
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.119
believed she left the house that night after receiving that
526
00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:02.319
phone call, and that she then faced a still unknown
527
00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:05.839
fate as she stepped into the night. By June of
528
00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:09.160
that year, law enforcement began the new concept of cold
529
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:13.039
case playing cards in prisons, and Ali was featured on
530
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:16.799
them as the Three of Clubs. At the two year
531
00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:20.640
anniversary of her disappearance, her mother made another plea to
532
00:31:20.680 --> 00:31:25.759
the public, saying, quote, my concern is Ali. Where is Ali?
533
00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:30.279
Is she the forgotten one? If there's anyone out there
534
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:34.720
who knows anything, it's okay to remain anonymous, but it's
535
00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:36.519
not okay to remain silent.
536
00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:40.400
Family and community members.
537
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:43.559
Criticized law enforcement for not doing more, to which a
538
00:31:43.559 --> 00:31:47.160
police spokesperson said they still cared about the case, they
539
00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:51.119
were still working it and quote these cases are very personal,
540
00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:55.559
regardless of what people think end quote. They also went
541
00:31:55.599 --> 00:31:57.880
on to say that at that point it was considered
542
00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:01.559
a cold case because they had exhaust did all current avenues,
543
00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:04.160
but that they would have other sets of eyes on
544
00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.319
it periodically to look for anything they missed, and that
545
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:11.519
if new leads came in they would immediately investigate them.
546
00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:15.480
Ellie Gilmore's mother spoke out and said that she didn't
547
00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:19.079
feel they were getting a thorough investigation and that things
548
00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:22.680
had been mishandled. She cited an example of the fact
549
00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.319
that she currently had all of the items that were
550
00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:28.799
found in Ellie's car, and she's saying, why are they
551
00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:32.440
in my house and not stored as evidence. The police
552
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.799
responded to that and said that they had collected pertinent evidence,
553
00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:38.759
but that they had returned other items to the family
554
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:41.160
as an act of good faith, since the items were
555
00:32:41.160 --> 00:32:44.839
going to be destroyed by a rebo company that seized
556
00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:58.359
her car. In the aftermath of the disappearance. By year
557
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.119
four of her disappearance, Jane had not kept up on
558
00:33:01.160 --> 00:33:06.359
the house payments, it was foreclosed upon and had new owners.
559
00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:10.880
Only one flyer remained posted in her neighborhood. But the
560
00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:13.640
people of her neighborhood who remembered her as the woman
561
00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.880
who would always bring out leftover dinner plates for them
562
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:19.680
and all the other people who loved her, they still
563
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:20.680
wondered her fate.
564
00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:22.960
Friends and family would talk about.
565
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:24.839
How they would see who they thought was Ali all
566
00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:28.240
the time out in public, and her sister even approached people.
567
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:32.079
At one point, her coworker thought she saw Allie coming
568
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:34.519
down an escalator at a store with a man, so
569
00:33:34.599 --> 00:33:38.279
she yelled out Ali, and the person didn't respond to her,
570
00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:38.920
but just kind.
571
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:39.359
Of looked over.
572
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:42.759
At this four year mark, it's at this point that
573
00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:45.279
we begin to learn a little bit more about the
574
00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:50.039
previously ambiguous man Dwight in her life. Dwight's full name
575
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:55.000
is Dwight Aldridge, as first reported on in the Tallahassee Democrat,
576
00:33:55.359 --> 00:33:59.519
with whom he granted a brief interview with. Dwight was
577
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:03.359
careful to paint his relationship with Ali as friendship, not
578
00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:09.119
a relationship. When they asked him about Ali's disappearance, he said, quote,
579
00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:12.119
I don't know. I can't get into too much detail
580
00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:15.960
about what I spoke to police about. When asked when
581
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.559
he last spoke to Ali and what her state of
582
00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:21.440
mind was like, he said, quote, it's been so long,
583
00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:25.679
I don't remember. He then told the paper he'd need
584
00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:30.159
to consult with his attorney before continuing the interview. A
585
00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:32.800
few days later, he wrote the paper an email that
586
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:37.440
said he didn't wish to comment any further. Ellie's family
587
00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:41.960
disagreed with the friendship assessment, and they released an email
588
00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:46.800
that shed a whole new light on the situation. Family
589
00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:50.239
members said that Dwight and Ali met at a Florida
590
00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:52.920
A and M homecoming event in the fall of that
591
00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:55.960
of two thousand and five, and that they had developed
592
00:34:56.039 --> 00:34:59.719
feelings for one another. In an email Ali sent to
593
00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:03.800
her sister Tracy Smith on December twentieth, two thousand and five,
594
00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:07.320
she said, quote, Dwight and I still talk about two
595
00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:10.400
or three times a day. We see each other three
596
00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:14.840
times a week. He's said, I changed since I am pregnant.
597
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:19.159
My past miscarriage haunts me every few days. Then, on
598
00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:24.079
top of it, all of the paternity issues end quote. Yes,
599
00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:28.239
Allie Gilmour's sister confirmed that Allie was unsure who the
600
00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:33.719
father of her unborn baby was. In a November twenty second,
601
00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:36.679
two thousand and five email to her sister, she referenced
602
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:39.119
Dwight going to an ultrasound appointment.
603
00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:39.440
With her that day.
604
00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:44.639
The spotlight of suspicion was definitely shifting more in the
605
00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:46.599
direction of Dwight than James.
606
00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:49.599
But that's sort of where it all just stayed.
607
00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.199
At the five year mark, Alli's case was handed over
608
00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:59.079
to tpd's Major Case Assessment Team, which handles the cold cases.
609
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:03.719
For years, the paper would run anniversary pieces and slowly
610
00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:06.719
the coverage faded, but not in the hearts of those
611
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:09.719
she left behind. They were still thinking of her more
612
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:13.119
than ever, missing her at holidays and wondering what would
613
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.400
have become a valley in her unborn baby. In twenty
614
00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:22.039
twenty one, fifteen years after Allie Gilmore's disappearance, police for
615
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:25.920
the first time named a suspect in the case, and
616
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:30.480
it was none other than Dwight Aldridge. According to reporting
617
00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:35.119
by Katie Caplan from WCTV News, there were many reasons
618
00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:38.280
to lean in the direction of Dwight, But first they
619
00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:40.840
went into a little further detail into why they weren't
620
00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:42.880
looking as heavily into James anymore.
621
00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:44.840
They said that beyond his.
622
00:36:44.920 --> 00:36:48.599
Continued cooperation throughout the years, they also had evidence to
623
00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:52.320
back up his alibi for that time. What alibi that is,
624
00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:56.000
they don't say, but just that he has one. In
625
00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:59.960
twenty twenty one, investigators walked the media through the case again,
626
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:03.599
sharing mostly everything we already know and disgusted about earlier
627
00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:08.000
in this episode with about her last movements. But Lieutenant Mahoney,
628
00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:11.840
who worked the case from the beginning, described how it
629
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:14.800
was an eerie feeling that day they arrived at her home.
630
00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:18.719
He was a brand new young homicide detective at the time.
631
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.039
Her public's uniform was laid out on her bed and
632
00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:24.960
the sheet had been pulled back as if she had
633
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:28.400
been in her bed. There was also an open pregnancy
634
00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:30.760
book on the bed, like she had been doing some reading.
635
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:35.360
According to Lieutenant Mahoney, Ellie kept a calendar where she
636
00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:39.880
had circled a date of conception on the calendar and
637
00:37:40.199 --> 00:37:45.159
next to it put the initials DA. They believe DA
638
00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:48.280
stood for Dwight Aldridge, that she had been with him
639
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:53.599
that night. Dwight had also attended some prenatal appointments with her,
640
00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:56.679
and Allie conveyed to family that he seemed excited to
641
00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:00.960
be a father. James Gilmore said that Allie opened up
642
00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:04.320
to him about the affair during one of their reconciliation
643
00:38:04.519 --> 00:38:08.039
counseling appointments, and that even though he knew the paternity
644
00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:10.320
of the baby was up in the air, he was
645
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:13.280
committed to getting back with his wife and raising the baby.
646
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:15.719
So at this point you have to.
647
00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:19.559
Wonder, is this a scenario where she wants to reconcile
648
00:38:19.719 --> 00:38:23.519
with her husband, but she has shared with Dwight. You know, yes,
649
00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:26.840
you're the father of this baby, I think, but I
650
00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:29.440
want to make things work with my husband, and now
651
00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:30.480
he's finding out that.
652
00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:31.400
He's losing her.
653
00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:34.320
He's not going to be in the baby's life in
654
00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:37.440
the way he thought that he was. And does this
655
00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:42.400
influence what happens then? In twenty twenty one, in that
656
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:46.480
same media release, police finally shared that the early morning
657
00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:50.599
phone call to Ali came from Dwight. They said that
658
00:38:50.679 --> 00:38:53.039
he lied about where he was calling from, saying he
659
00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:55.400
admitted to calling her that night, but that he was
660
00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:59.159
nowhere near her he identified where he was kind of
661
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:02.360
trying to establish alibi for himself, and the cell phone
662
00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:06.519
data refuted this and placed him very close with his
663
00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:10.039
cell phone pinging near her house. So yes, two thousand
664
00:39:10.039 --> 00:39:12.519
and six was a little earlier with the pinging of
665
00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:15.199
towers and how that technology worked, but it was enough
666
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:19.800
to place him there. Aldridge Hetty criminal history. Prior to
667
00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:23.480
meeting Ellie Gilmore. He had served five years in prison
668
00:39:23.559 --> 00:39:26.320
for armed robbery and he had been released in two
669
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.039
thousand and three. Seemingly after getting out of prison, he
670
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:34.000
hasn't re entered the system, and he even became a
671
00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:38.599
nurse in twenty twenty. He still lives in the Florida community.
672
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:43.239
Police hoped that releasing this information would spark conversation in
673
00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:46.679
the community and bring forth someone who could give them
674
00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:49.559
the missing piece that would help them move forward with
675
00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:54.559
an arrest in prosecution in this case. But now another
676
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:58.920
five years have passed and that still hasn't come. Ellie
677
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:02.599
would be fifteen now and her baby would be twenty
678
00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:06.239
years old. Since the day she disappeared, there has never
679
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:10.719
been a single sign of her, no evidence anywhere, and
680
00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:14.960
her family is just still waiting, even though they have
681
00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:18.679
a suspect in mind. There still hasn't been any justice
682
00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:23.159
and they just want to know where she can be found.
683
00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:25.360
They want to be able to lay her to rest
684
00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:28.559
if that's the answer, and they deserve these answers.
685
00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:31.440
As of twenty twenty.
686
00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:35.760
Six, TPD Detective Mark Ray took over the case and
687
00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:39.719
he says that missing persons cases are the toughest for
688
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:45.400
both investigators and family members, and he shared this message quote, Basically,
689
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:48.440
a person just vanishes and they have no answers, and
690
00:40:48.480 --> 00:40:51.480
we have no answers to give them. So we need
691
00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.639
that one person to come forward that has information that
692
00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:58.599
will lead us either to her remains or give us
693
00:40:58.639 --> 00:41:04.079
the information that we need to move forward. If you're
694
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:07.719
that person, it's time to do that. And anyone with
695
00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:12.039
information about Allie Gilmore's disappearance is asked to call the
696
00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:15.719
Big Bend Cold Case Task Force at eight five zero
697
00:41:16.239 --> 00:41:20.199
for one zero seven six one one. You may also
698
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:24.000
contact the Tellahassee Police Department at eight five zero eight
699
00:41:24.119 --> 00:41:27.639
nine to one forty two hundred. There is also the
700
00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:31.800
anonymous Big Bend Crime Solvers Line at eight five zero
701
00:41:32.039 --> 00:41:36.920
five seven four seven four seven seven. This has been
702
00:41:37.079 --> 00:41:40.760
another episode of a Simpler Time True Crime. If you
703
00:41:40.840 --> 00:41:43.599
appreciate the work I'm doing, you can help this podcast
704
00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:46.280
by leaving a five star review on your preferred listening
705
00:41:46.320 --> 00:41:50.880
platform and sharing the podcast with a friend. I find
706
00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:53.840
that I have been getting a lot of new listeners
707
00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:57.960
from Reddit people just dropping the podcast name. Please continue
708
00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:01.280
to do things like that as well. Case suggestions can
709
00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.880
be sent to Simpler timecrimepod at gmail dot com. I
710
00:42:04.920 --> 00:42:08.239
typically cover cases that are unsolved and at least twenty
711
00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:12.239
years old. And with that, thank you so much for
712
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:15.519
listening and join me again next Monday.