Dead North

MY NAME IS LAURA FRIZZO.

I USED TO BE THE POLICE CHIEF HERE IN IRON RIVER.

BUT I HAD TO MAKE A CHOICE.

TOPPING OUR NEWS TONIGHT...

Woman: ...LAST SEEN WEARING A T-SHIRT AND JEANS...

Fillmore: ...CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT

DISINTERNMENT AND MUTILATION...

Woman: IF THOSE CLAIMS ARE TRUE, A SERIAL KILLER.

Frizzo: I COULD EITHER REMAIN THE CHIEF,

OR I COULD CATCH A KILLER.

Saylor: SAWS,

SANDERS, DRILLS,

HAMMERS.

I'M LIKE, "OH, GOD.

OH, GOD. LIKE, NO."

Frizzo: OH, MY GOD!

OH, MY GOD!

OH! DON'T TOUCH IT.

PLEASE DON'T TOUCH IT.

Frizzo: THE UPPER PENINSULA IS THE MOST NORTHWESTERN PART

OF MICHIGAN.

YOU'RE REAL CLOSE TO THE CANADIAN BORDER.

I ACTUALLY WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE U.P.

A YOOPER IS A PERSON WHO LIVES IN THE UPPER PENINSULA.

IRON RIVER IS BUMPED UP

NEXT TO THE ALMOST 1 MILLION ACRES

OF THE OTTAWA NATIONAL FOREST.

A LOT OF PEOPLE WOULD RELOCATE UP INTO THE UPPER PENINSULA

BECAUSE OF ITS REMOTENESS

AND WHATEVER KIND OF TROUBLES THEY HAD IN A BIGGER CITY.

IT'S A GOOD PLACE TO COME

AND KIND OF TRY TO START YOUR LIFE OVER.

NOBODY KNOWS YOU.

NOBODY REALLY PAYS ATTENTION TO YOU.

I'LL NEVER FORGET THE NIGHT THAT TERRI O'DONNELL

CAME TO MY OFFICE.

THAT WAS THE NIGHT THAT CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER.

I JUST PUT DOWN WHAT I WAS WORKING ON,

AND I'M OUT HE DOOR.

AND I WATCH A WOMAN GET OUT OF HER CAR.

AND SHE TURNS BACK AND LOOKS AT ME,

AND SHE'S CRYING.

AND SHE SAYS, "I NEED TO REPORT SOMEBODY MISSING.

I CAN'T REACH HIM.

I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO REACH HIM IN ALMOST TWO WEEKS."

SHE'S A VERY PRETTY WOMAN.

SHE'S A SCHOOLTEACHER.

AND I COULD SEE SHE WAS VERY, VERY, VERY WORRIED

AND VERY CONCERNED.

LISTENING TO HER WORDS AND LOOKING AT HER TEARS,

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND, I'M THINKING, "JUST CALM DOWN."

YOU KNOW, "YOU'RE -- JUST CALM DOWN.

EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE ALL RIGHT.

YOU KNOW, YOU'RE JUST OVERREACTING A LITTLE BIT."

SHE SAID HIS NAME IS CHRIS REGAN.

HE'S 53 YEARS OLD.

YOU KNOW, ABOUT 6'1", BLOND HAIR, BLUE EYES,

THIN BUILD.

HE'S GOT TWO SONS.

O'Donnell: I WAS A NERVOUS WRECK. I WAS CRYING.

I WAS SHAKING.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

I KNEW CHRIS WAS GONE, AND I DIDN'T KNOW

WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO TELL THE POLICE.

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO

BESIDES TELL THE POLICE THAT HE'S MISSING.

HE'S GONE.

SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HIM.

SOMETHING TERRIBLE'S HAPPENED.

CHRISTOPHER AND I MET BACK IN THE 1980s,

AND WE WERE JUST FRIENDS.

AND THEN DECADES LATER,

WE RECONNECTED OVER THE INTERNET,

THROUGH FACEBOOK.

AND WHEN I MET UP WITH CHRIS

FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER DECADES,

WE WERE HOOKED.

WE DECIDED RIGHT THEN AND THERE, "NO, YOU KNOW WHAT,

WE'RE GONNA START A LONG-DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP."

Frizzo: BOTH WERE DIVORCED

AND HE WOULD COME UP AND VISIT HER AND THEY DATED.

SO THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED.

O'Donnell: CHRIS AND I WERE VERY SERIOUS.

YOU KNOW, I PLANNED ON SPENDING THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH HIM.

WE THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS,

WE RECONNECTED FOR A PURPOSE, FOR A REASON.

AND WE KIND OF HAD THINGS MAPPED OUT WHERE WE HAD OUR PLANS,

AND I GUESS I NEVER THOUGHT THINGS WOULD BE ANY DIFFERENT.

I THOUGHT THAT CHRIS AND I WILL SPEND

THE REST OF OUR LIFE TOGETHER.

Narrator: BUT IT WAS NOT TO BE.

AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF,

CHRIS HAD HAD ENOUGH OF THE UPPER PENINSULA.

HE STARTED LOOKING FOR A JOB ELSEWHERE,

AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH TERRI ENDED AMICABLY.

THEY CONTINUED TO SPEAK REGULARLY UNTIL MID-OCTOBER.

TWO WEEKS LATER, TERRI REPORTED HIM MISSING.

TERRI INDICATED THAT SHE HADN'T SPOKEN TO CHRIS

SINCE OCTOBER 14th.

SHE TELLS ME, YOU KNOW,

HOW HE HAD JUST TOLD HER THAT HE ACCEPTED A JOB

OUT IN NORTH CAROLINA AND HOW EXCITED HE WAS TO MOVE,

AND THAT WAS THE LAST THING SHE HAD HEARD FROM HIM.

SO COULD HE HAVE BEEN MISSING SINCE THE 14th?

COULD HE HAVE BEEN MISSING SINCE OCTOBER 23rd?

WE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW.

AT THIS POINT, MY SERGEANT COMES IN.

Barrette: I STARTED MY SHIFT 00 P.M.

IT WASN'T UNUSUAL FOR CHIEF FRIZZO

TO STILL BE AT WORK,

EVEN THOUGH IT WAS PAST HER DUTY TIME.

AND SHE WAS TALKING TO THIS WOMAN THAT I DID NOT KNOW,

BUT SHE INTRODUCED ME TO HER AS TERRI O'DONNELL.

Narrator: TERRI O'DONNELL SAYS HER PARENTS

ARE THE MISSING MAN'S LANDLORD.

CHIEF FRIZZO TELLS SERGEANT BARRETTE

TO TAKE TERRI TO CHRIS REGAN'S APARTMENT

SO THAT BARRETTE CAN TAKE A LOOK AROUND.

Barrette: TERRI O'DONNELL AND I MET UP

AT CHRIS REGAN'S APARTMENT,

AND SHE GAINED ENTRY TO THE APARTMENT

WITH A SET OF KEYS.

IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT CHRIS REGAN HAD BEEN PACKING.

THERE WAS BOXES IN THE DIFFERENT ROOMS IN THERE,

A SUITCASE ON THE BED,

AND HE HAD TO-DO LISTS IN SEVERAL PARTS OF THE HOUSE

THAT HAD TO DO WITH MOVING.

O'Donnell: HE FOUND A JOB IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

THE LAST TIME I SPOKE TO CHRIS WAS OCTOBER 14th --

00 A.M., ACTUALLY.

AND HE WAS TELLING ME THAT THE NEXT DAY

HE WAS GOING FOR HIS DRUG TEST.

AND IF HE PASSED THAT, WHICH HE WOULD,

THAT WAS ALL HE HAD LEFT TO DO FOR THE JOB.

AND THEN I JUST BROKE DOWN.

MY HEART SUNK.

HE NEVER WENT TO HIS APPOINTMENT ON THE 15th.

SOMETHING HAPPENED TO HIM.

Barrette: THERE WAS DISHES IN THE SINK,

AND THERE WAS A SET OF EYEGLASSES IN THE KITCHEN.

MEDICATIONS WERE IN THE BATHROOM, IN THE CUPBOARD.

THE WHOLE TIME I WAS JUST SHAKING

BECAUSE I KEPT SEEING MORE AND MORE THINGS

THAT JUST TOLD ME THAT, YOU KNOW, HE'S GONE.

CHRIS WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT HIS APARTMENT LIKE THAT.

HE WOULD HAVE NEVER DONE THOSE THINGS.

SOMEBODY WAS THERE.

SOMEBODY WAS IN THAT APARTMENT

THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE.

Narrator: NEXT, TERRI TELLS SERGEANT BARRETTE

THAT CHRIS' CAR WAS LAST SEEN AT THE PARK AND RIDE,

A CARPOOLING AREA ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF IRON RIVER.

SHE HAD NOTICED THAT CHRIS REGAN'S CAR

HAD BEEN PARKED OUT WEST OF IRON RIVER

AT THE PARK AND RIDE FOR OVER TWO WEEKS.

AND SHE WAS CONCERNED BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN NO REASON

THAT SHE COULD THINK OF THAT HIS CAR WOULD BE PARKED THERE.

HE WOULD HAVE NEVER HAVE LEFT THE GENESIS

AT THE PARK AND RIDE TO START WITH.

THAT WAS HIS CHILD.

HE LOVED HIS CAR.

Barrette: WE GOT TO THE PARK AND RIDE.

IT WAS A COOL NIGHT.

IT'S OCTOBER. IT'S ALREADY DARK.

IT GETS DARK 00 AND 5:00.

SHE BECAME CONCERNED BECAUSE HE HAD HAD KNEE SURGERY,

SHOULD HAVE HAD THE KNEE BRACE ON.

TERRI SEEMED FRANTIC AND WANTING TO GET INTO THAT CAR.

SHE WAS VERY, VERY UPSET.

O'Donnell: CHRIS' CAR WAS LOCKED.

I WAS AFRAID HE WAS IN THE TRUNK.

YOU KNOW, HE WAS GONE.

HE WAS -- I HAD NO DOUBT IN MY MIND.

HE WAS GONE.

AND I WAS AFRAID THAT SOMEBODY HAD PUT HIM IN HIS TRUNK,

THAT THAT'S WHERE HE WAS.

Narrator: BUT WHEN THE TRUNK IS LATER OPENED,

IT'S EMPTY.

Frizzo: COULD IT BE THAT HE WAS SUICIDAL?

COULD IT BE THAT HE JUST WANTED TO DISAPPEAR

AND START HIS LIFE OVER SOMEWHERE WHERE NO ONE KNEW HIM?

IT JUST SEEMED LIKE HE LEFT AND JUST NEVER CAME BACK.

Narrator: 53-YEAR-OLD CHRIS REGAN

HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING IN A REMOTE PART OF MICHIGAN.

DeRoche: IRON RIVER'S LOCATED IN THE UPPER PENINSULA,

AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO VERY FAR OUT OF TOWN

TO SEE WOODS AND TO SEE LAKES

AND TO GET DEEP INTO THE WOODS.

IT DOESN'T TAKE VERY LONG TO FIND YOURSELF

OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

WHEN CHRIS WENT MISSING,

THE BIGGEST THING THAT I HEARD IMMEDIATELY

WAS THAT HE GOT LOST IN THE WOODS.

IF YOU GET DEEP ENOUGH IN THE WOODS,

THERE'S WOLVES AND THERE'S COYOTES

AND THERE'S BEAR.

SO IT CAN BE SCARY OUT THERE.

Frizzo: IN THE UPPER PENINSULA,

YOU'LL GET, LIKE, THE OCCASIONAL LOST HUNTER

OR OVERDUE FISHERMAN.