失踪：汤普森一家

嗨，犯罪迷们。我是你们的主持人阿什莉·弗劳尔斯。

Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers.

我是布里特。

And I'm Britt.

伙计们，今天要讲的故事我得先提醒你们，听完你们肯定会对着手机或任何收听设备大喊大叫，因为这个案件的答案一直就摆在眼前。当一个家庭凭空消失时，所有线索都明显指向一个人。答案其实就从家里开始。但当时警方调查行动迟缓，导致受害者家属对警方对待这个有色人种家庭的态度感到沮丧——这种情形在边缘化社区至今仍屡见不鲜。我们采访了本案的律师，她透露了调查如此进展的真实原因，以及为何这起看似铁证如山的谋杀案最终无人被起诉。

And, man, the story I have for you today, I'm gonna warn you, it is going to have you yelling at your phone or whatever you're listening on because the answers to this case were out in the open the entire time. When a family disappears into thin air, it is glaringly obvious that all roads point to one person. And the answer literally starts at home. But police at the time jumped on the investigation too little, too late, leaving the family of the victims frustrated with the lack of police response for this family of color, something that is still all too common in marginalized communities. But we talked to an attorney in this case and she gave us the real details on why the investigation unfolded the way it did and why no charges were ever brought in what looks like an open and shut murder case.

这是汤普森一家的故事。1996年7月5日星期五，赫尔曼·汤普森给他儿子埃弗雷特经营的餐厅打电话，想知道儿子一家具体什么时候能回来过周末假期。按计划他们本应在埃弗雷特下班后从芝加哥开车到费城。但你知道，当老板的人下班时间总是说不准。

This is the story of the Thompson family. It's Friday, 07/05/1996 when Herman Thompson calls his son Everett at the restaurant Everett owned. He wants to know exactly when he can expect Everett and his young family to get into town for the holiday weekend. The plan was for them to drive from Chicago to Philly sometime after Everett got off work. But, you know, when you're the owner operator, that's always a little TBD.

就在他们还没在电话里商量完细节时，埃弗雷特突然对他父亲说：'等等先别挂，我妻子莉迪亚打另一个电话进来了'。

Yeah. So before they can hash out all the details over the phone, Everett tells his dad, okay. Listen. Hang on. My wife, Lydia, she's on the other line.

他刚挂断不到一秒就又切回来说必须走了——莉迪亚带着两个儿子躲进了衣柜，因为她哥哥正拿着斧头在他们家威胁他们，埃弗雷特得立刻赶回去。根据《芝加哥论坛报》的报道，赫尔曼以为儿子随时会回电话报平安对吧？

He's only off the phone for a second before he clicks back over, and he tells his dad he's gotta go. Lydia has locked herself and their two boys in the closet because her brother is there at their house threatening them with an axe, and Everett's gotta get home. Like, click. Now based on reporting from the Chicago Tribune, Herman expects Everett to call him back at any point. Right?

对啊，比如'没事了虚惊一场'之类的。

Yeah. And be like, hey. Everything's fine. Whatever.

但他没有。我猜他回拨了电话，可能也试着联系了莉迪亚，但谁都联系不上。整整一天杳无音信后，他给芝加哥警方打电话报案说所有人都失踪了。包括埃弗雷特、莉迪亚，以及他们两个儿子——11岁的埃弗雷特二世和8岁的安德鲁。但你知道吗？

But he doesn't. And I assume he calls back, probably tries Lydia too, but he's not getting anyone. So when a whole day goes by without word, he calls the police in Chicago to report everyone missing. And that's Everett, Lydia, and their two boys, Everett Junior, who's 11, and Andrew, who's eight. But guess what?

芝加哥警方不接受外州居民通过电话报失踪案。

The Chicago PD won't take the missing person's report over the phone from someone who lives out of state.

好的。他提到关于那些行为的部分了吗？

Okay. Did he mention the part about the acts?

他肯定提了，但警方似乎不为所动。于是他妥协说：那至少能派人去做个安全核查吧？

He had to have, but they seemingly won't budge. So he's like, fine. Can you at least go do, like, a welfare check

再说一遍，是关于那些行为的。

Again, on acts.

是的。这个他们可以办。于是警方告诉赫尔曼：听着，我们会派人去做安全核查，之后会给你回电。

Yes. And this they can do. So they tell Herman, listen. We're gonna send someone out to do a welfare check. We'll give you a callback at some point.

每一分钟都像一小时那么漫长，每一小时都像一天。是啊。但最终他的电话响了，警局带来了好消息：那家人平安无事。

Minutes must feel like hours. Hours like days. Yeah. But eventually, his phone does ring, and the department is calling with good news. The family's fine.

他们现在正在去费城的路上。赫尔曼的反应是‘天啊’。很好。你跟他们通过话了。他们没事。

They're actually on their way to Philly right now. And Herman's like, oh my god. Good. Like, you talked to them. They're okay.

他的反应是‘不，不，不’。我跟一个叫肯尼斯的人聊过。他说他是莉迪亚的哥哥。

Like, he's like, no. No. No. I talked to someone named Kenneth. Said he was Lydia's brother.

等等，就是那个拿斧头的哥哥？

Wait. Like, the axe brother?

对。就是他告诉他们，他们已经坐家里的面包车离开了。

Yeah. He's the one who told them that they had already left in the family van.

等等，难道没人觉得不对劲吗？我们为什么要相信一个拿着斧头的哥哥的话？而且为什么是他来应门？

I'm sorry. Is no one putting two and two together? Like, why are we taking the word of the axe wielding brother? And, also, why is he the one who's answering their door?

其实肯尼斯就住那儿。所以这部分不奇怪。他五个月前刚出狱。原本是和室友同住，但后来闹翻了。所以就搬去和莉迪亚一家住了，大概就这样。

Well, so Kenneth actually lives there. So that part's not odd. He had just gotten out of prison five months earlier. He had originally moved in with a roommate, I guess, but that didn't work out. So he moved in with Lydia and her family, like, whatever.

这部分不重要。可怕的是，就像你说的，那个拿斧头的哥哥告诉警方他们已经离开了。他没说具体时间，只说他们走了——这意味着这家人应该已经在费城了，但赫尔曼知道他们不在。可即便赫尔曼指出这点，芝加哥警方似乎还是忽略了他所有的担忧。

That part's neither here nor there. The scary part is that, as you said, the axe wielding brother told police they'd already left. He didn't say when exactly, just that they're gone, which means that the family should already be in Philly, and Herman knows they're not. Right. But all of Herman's concerns, even as he's, like, pointing this out, seem to be overlooked by Chicago PD.

他们大概就是，嗯，你知道的，可能只是耽搁了，再等一会儿吧。但第六个过去了，然后是第七、第八、第九、第十、第十一、第十二、第十三个。假期周末已经过去两次了，费城的家人再也等不下去了。如果非要亲自去提交失踪人口报告，那好吧。我们就亲自去办。

They're pretty much like, well, you know, maybe they got delayed just like, give it a minute. But the sixth goes by, then the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth. The holiday weekend has come and gone twice over, and the family in Philly can't wait anymore. Like, if they need a missing person's report to be filed in person, fine. We'll go do it in person.

嗯。所以埃弗雷特的妈妈、爸爸和他的两个兄弟姐妹德里克和丹尼斯，他们在13号从费城出发，花了大约11个小时来到芝加哥。为了确认自己不是疯了——因为警方确实让他们有这种感觉——他们先去了埃弗雷特的餐厅。至少丹尼斯和德里克很确定那是他们的第一站。我们和他们俩谈过，他们说，你知道，已经快三十年了。

Mhmm. So Everett's mom, dad, and a couple of his siblings, Derek and Denise, they make the eleven ish hour trip from Philly to Chicago on the thirteenth. And just to make sure that they're not the crazy ones, because police sure made them feel like that, they stop at Everett's restaurant first. Or at least Denise and Derek are pretty sure that's where they stop first. We spoke to both of them and they said that, you know, it's been almost thirty years on.

就是，记忆都有点模糊了，但他们认为餐厅是第一站。但他们确定的是，当他们到那里和经理交谈时，经理告诉他们，从5号起就没人见过埃弗雷特了，餐厅里也没有。那天正是爸爸最后一次和他通电话的日子。接下来，他们去了芝加哥南区的家，就是埃弗雷特告诉爸爸他要去的地方，然后突然挂断了电话。他们到那里时房子锁着，最后不得不从住在附近的莉迪亚的一个阿姨那里找到钥匙。

Like, everything's a little bit fuzzy, but they think the restaurant was the first stop. But they know for sure that when they got there and spoke with the manager, she tells them that Everett hasn't been seen in the restaurant or even seen by anyone since the fifth. That is the same day that dad last spoke to him on the phone. So next, they go to the family home on the South Side Of Chicago, the same place that Everett told his dad that he was headed to when he cut that call with him short. Now the house is locked when they get there, so they end up having to track down a key from one of Lydia's aunts who lives nearby.

当他们进去时，场景令人毛骨悚然。房子是空的，完全清空了，只剩下装满衣服的垃圾袋。我是说没有家具，什么都没有。

And when they get in, the scene is bone chilling. The house is empty, totally cleared out except for garbage bags full of clothes. I'm talking no furniture, nothing.

连肯尼斯也不在吗？

Not even Kenneth?

不在。连肯尼斯也不在那里。所以现在是时候向警方提交失踪人口报告了。据家人说，芝加哥警方确实受理了报告，因为他们亲自来了，但他们似乎仍然没有采取多少行动。我是说，那时是夏天。

No. Not even Kenneth is there. So now it's time to file that missing person's report with police. According to the family, Chicago PD does take the report now that they're in person, but it still doesn't seem like they're doing much. I mean, it was summertime.

所以我觉得他们想的是，至少在警方看来，汤普森一家有可能只是在学校开学前出去旅行了什么的。我不完全清楚他们是否考虑过这个家庭可能遭遇了什么不测。但他们自己的家人确信事情不对劲。于是他们开始挨家挨户在汤普森家附近寻找答案，结果发现有人有个有趣的故事要讲。据丹尼斯说，有个人说，你知道吗？

So I think the thing they're thinking is, like, it's within the realm of possibility, at least to police, that the Thompsons had, in fact, just, like, taken a trip before school started or something. And it's not entirely clear to me if they consider at all whether something nefarious could have happened to this entire family. But their own family is convinced this is wrong. So they start going door knocking around the Thompson's home themselves looking for answers, and they find someone with an interesting story to tell. According to Denise, this one guy says, you know what?

我确实看到了一些东西。他没有具体说明发生的时间，但他说很可能是在他们失踪（应该是5号）到全家人13号到达之间的某个时候。这个人说是在某天深夜，他注意到有人。他没说是谁，但知道不是埃弗雷特或莉迪亚。那个人当时正在从汤普森家往外搬垃圾。

I did see something. Now he didn't specify exactly when this happened, but he said it was likely sometime between their disappearance, which would have been on the fifth, and when all the family got there on the thirteenth. But this guy says that it was the middle of the night one night, and he noticed someone. He didn't say who, but he knew it wasn't Everett or Lydia. But this person was taking out trash from the Thompson house.

他们从房子里搬出来的东西里有一条卷起来的大地毯。这个神秘人没有像其他东西那样把它放在路边，而是放进了埃弗雷特的面包车后厢。

One of the things that they pulled out of the house was this large rolled up carpet. And instead of setting it out on the curb with the rest of the stuff, this mystery person puts it in the back of Everett's van.

就是肯尼斯说那家人开去费城的那辆面包车。

The van that Kenneth said the family drove to Philly.

没错。你猜怎么着？他现在改口了。这家人把得到的每一条线索都告诉了警方，包括这个故事。后来警方至少又去找肯尼斯谈了一次。

Exactly. And guess what? He's not saying that anymore. The family's bringing, like, every tidbit they get back to police, including this story. And at some point, the police at least go talk to Kenneth again.

这次当警方问起那家人的下落时，肯尼斯给出了另一个版本。他说7月5日那天他开车送埃弗雷特去了汽车站。我猜是用埃弗雷特的面包车，因为据我们所知肯尼斯自己没有车。他还说莉迪亚和孩子们已经在那里等他们了，因为他们要乘巴士去费城过周末，但之后就再没见过他们。

And this time when they ask him where the family is, Kenneth tells them a different story. He says that he drove Everett to a bus station on July 5. I'm guessing in Everett's van because Kenneth didn't have a vehicle that we know of. And he says that Lydia and the boys were already there waiting for him because they were gonna go take a bus to Philly for the weekend, but he hasn't seen them since.

好吧。那么肯尼斯，面包车现在在哪里？

Okay. So where's the van now, Kenneth?

这正是我的问题。接着还应该问：有人查过汽车站吗？我敢打赌那家人根本没买票，但不确定警方是否查过这个，甚至不确定他们有没有尝试追踪那辆面包车。我们在这个案子的信息公开请求都被拒绝了。

My question exactly. Followed by, did anyone check the bus depot? Right. I bet the family bought no tickets, but it's unclear if police, like, did that or if they even attempt to track the van down. Mean, our FOIA requests were denied in this case.

我的直觉告诉我，即使我们找到他们，也看不到多少线索。没错。因为在芝加哥，警方对有色人种不作为的情况并不罕见，尤其是在九十年代。我查阅了隐形研究所和美国数据网的研究，过去二十年里芝加哥黑人人口数量有所下降。但根据人口普查数据，他们约占人口的34%，却占所有失踪人口案件的三分之二。

My gut says even if we got them, we wouldn't see much. Right. Because for context, police inaction in Chicago is not uncommon for people of color, especially back in the nineties. I actually looked at some studies from the Invisible Institute and Data USA, and there has been a decrease in population size of black Chicagoans over the past two decades. But according to census data, they make up around 34 of the population, give or take, yet they account for two thirds of all missing person cases.

后来发现其中一些很可能是凶杀案。显然，这种漠视已经根植于体制之中。我不知道接下来会发生什么，似乎不会有太大动作。但我拿到的一份法庭文件显示，在八月——距离这家人失踪已近一个月时，一名侦探终于去了埃弗雷特的餐厅，询问第五日当班的经理，那天埃弗雷特跑出去查看家人情况。

And some were later found to be likely homicides. So it is clear that this kind of dismissal is just, like, baked into the system. So I don't know what happens next. Seems like not a whole lot. But the one court doc I did get my hands on says that at the August, now nearly a full month since the family has been seen, a detective finally makes his way over to Everett's restaurant to talk to the manager who was working on the fifth when Everett ran out to go check on his family.

经理的陈述更令人担忧，也让肯尼斯的嫌疑更大。她告诉警方，埃弗雷特在五号下午3点左右匆忙离开餐厅，之后便杳无音信，这非常可疑。但更可疑的是，埃弗雷特离开后不久——大约两小时后的5点，她看到肯尼斯开着埃弗雷特的面包车，就是埃弗雷特刚开走的那辆。

And what she says gives even more cause for concern and puts even more suspicion on Kenneth. The manager tells police that Everett left the restaurant quickly at around 3PM on the fifth. She never saw or heard from him again after that, which is way concerning. But even more concerning was the fact that not long after Everett left that day, like two hours later, 5PM, she saw Kenneth pull up in Everett's van, the same van that Everett had just left in.

所以肯尼斯确实有他的...是啊。

So Kenneth definitely had his Yeah.

她说那一刻，埃弗雷特曾对她说过的话突然浮现在脑海。他说：‘如果你看到肯尼开我的车，就知道我已经死了。’

She said that in that moment, something Everett once told her comes to the forefront of her mind. He said, quote, if you ever see Kenny driving my car, you'll know that I'm dead.

我是说，应该立即报警。

I mean, immediately call the police.

我...我知道。是的，现在说起来容易。是的。但当时...

I I I know. Yes. Easy for us to say now. Yes. But no.

我是说，事后回想起来一切都显得不祥。比如，我在想埃弗雷特当时是不是在开玩笑？比如，哦，他的车不在，她就问，哦，是你兄弟开走了吗？然后他反应像是，天啊。比如，死者

Like, I mean, everything sounds ominous in hindsight. Like, I kind of want like, what if Everett was saying that as a joke at the time? Like, oh, his car was out and she's like, oh, does your brother have it? And he's like, oh my god. Like, the dead

除非我死了。字面意思。没错。

Over over my dead body. Literally. Yeah.

我不清楚那段背景。而且肯尼斯当时在场，讲了个让她放下戒备的故事。据说是他走进餐厅直接对她说，埃弗雷特出了车祸，在和芝加哥警察争执后被逮捕了。经理觉得这完全说不通，因为埃弗雷特根本不是这种人，但不知为何她信了——即便她低头看到肯尼斯的白球鞋上疑似血迹的东西。

I don't know the context for that. Also, Kenneth was there with a story that must have made her put her guard down. I guess he came into the restaurant and walked right up to her and said that Everett had gotten in an accident and was arrested after he got in an argument with a Chicago police officer. Now this makes zero sense to the manager because that's not like Everett at all, but for some reason, she accepts this. Even when she looks down at Kenneth's feet and notices what looks like blood on his white sneakers.

虽然我觉得没必要强调，但以防万一——芝加哥乃至全美都找不到埃弗雷特的逮捕记录。那么探员面对这个爆炸性发现会怎么做？真希望我能告诉你。《芝加哥论坛报》记载，1996年10月芝加哥警局特别调查组接手汤普森家案子时，他们得从三个月前的行踪开始追溯——进度已经严重滞后了。

And not that I even have to say this, but just in case, there was never any arrest records for Everett in Chicago or anywhere else. Now what does the detective do with this bombshell revelation? Wish I could tell you. The Chicago Tribune reports that in October 1996, Chicago PD's special investigation unit takes on the Thompson's case, and they've gotta attempt to retrace all the family steps from like three months before. They are so behind.

调查从孩子们学校开始，校长说自1996学年六月结束后两个孩子就没来上课，也没有转学申请，就像凭空消失了一样。嗯。

But they start by going to the boys' school, and they talk to the principal who says that the boys hadn't attended since 1996. So seemingly when the school year ended in June. Mhmm. And there were no other transfer requests or anything. So, like, poof, they're just gone.

随后发现医疗预约全被爽约，餐厅无人接班，连邮递员都注意到汤普森家的信件无人领取。他们还把家猫遗弃了——整栋房子只剩肯尼斯和那只猫。种种迹象表明，这家人可能在7月5日前后遭遇不测，所有疑点终于指向肯尼斯。

And it's discovered that medical appointments have been missed. No one has shown backup at the restaurant and even their mail person noticed that none of the Thompsons were getting any of their mail. And they had left the family cat behind. It was just Kenneth and this cat at the house. So it is seeming more and more clear that something happened to this family on or around July 5, and all eyes are finally on Kenneth.

猜猜档案里早就存在却被忽视的关键信息？就在全家失踪前两天，莉迪亚曾因相同原因报警举报肯尼斯——法庭记录显示1996年7月3日她报警称肯尼斯持斧在屋内追砍她。这份文件并非该案卷宗，只是另起案件的备注记录，所以没有警方处置细节。但根据其他档案，警方当时确实未逮捕肯尼斯。

And guess what was in their records all along that maybe they knew about but did nothing with or they never looked hard enough into to find? Just two days before the family went missing, Lydia had called police on Kenneth for the same exact thing that she called her husband for on the fifth. Court records show that on 07/03/1996, Lydia called police to say that Kenneth was chasing her around the house with an axe. Now the court documents aren't actually for that case. It's just like a note made for another case involving something else, so it doesn't get into any details about the police's response or lack thereof because I know based on the records that they didn't arrest Kenneth for that.

现在我们找到《芝加哥论坛报》的一些报道，称警方记录现场安静平和，没有持续骚乱。没什么特别之处。但这让我不太明白，比如肯尼斯当时是否已经离开？还是他在场但事态已经平息？嗯。

Now we found some reporting from the Chicago Tribune that says police noted the scene was quiet and calm and no ongoing trouble. Nothing that stood out. But that doesn't make it clear to me, like, was Kenneth gone? Was he there, but everything had cooled down? Yeah.

真希望我能了解更多细节。我是说，法庭记录只显示出警警官检查了每个房间，没发现异常。但他们显然做得不够，因为莉迪亚在5号没报警，两天后才打电话向丈夫求助。她第一次报警后什么都没发生，对吧。

I wish I had more details. The I mean, again, the court records just say that the responding officer checked out each room, didn't see anything strange. But, like, they clearly didn't do enough because instead of calling 911 on the fifth, two days later, Lydia calls her husband for help. Like, she called the police the first time and nothing happened. Right.

你可能已经听出来了，肯尼斯真是个难缠的主儿。就像我说的，他刚出狱不久。他是个被判刑的性侵罪犯，现在又威胁要杀害自己的妹妹。至于为什么，你可能会问。嗯。

Now as you might be picking up on, Kenneth is a real piece of work. Like I said, he had just recently gotten out of jail. He was a convicted sexual predator who was threatening to murder his sister now. For why, you might ask. Yeah.

最合理的猜测就在这里。但根据法庭文件，他和莉迪亚素有嫌隙。侦探从他们姑妈那里得知，1995年父亲去世后，他们之间的关系就急剧恶化。母亲早在89年就已离世。父亲去世时，孩子们——肯尼斯、莉迪亚和另一个妹妹菲莉丝——得到了一笔遗产。

Best guess is only here. But he and Lydia had a history of animosity according to court docs. Detectives learned from their aunt that things had gotten pretty bad between the year before in 1995 after their dad passed away. Their mom had already died in '89. But when their dad passed away, this is when the kids, so Kenneth, Lydia, and their other sister Phyllis, they got an inheritance.

当时肯尼斯还因性侵罪在服刑。莉迪亚在他服刑期间把他那份寄给了他。但当他收到莉迪亚寄来的11000美元时勃然大怒，因为他告诉姑妈每人应得15000美元。所以他认定莉迪亚私吞了他的钱，还指控她在他服刑期间处理了他的私人物品。这些指控都是通过他写给姑妈的信件传达的——可惜姑妈最终没能找到这些信，真是遗憾，因为据她说这些信里肯尼斯扬言出狱后要杀了莉迪亚。

Now this came while Kenneth was still in prison for criminal sexual assault. So Lydia sent him his portion while he was still in prison. But when he received $11,000 from Lydia, he was pissed because he told their aunt that each of them were allotted $15,000. So basically, he thought that Lydia was holding out on him, and he accused her of getting rid of his personal belongings while he was locked up. And he's saying all of this via letters to his aunt that, of course, the aunt ended up not being able to find for us, which is, like, a real shame because she says that in these letters, Kenneth allegedly wrote that he was going to kill Lydia when he got out of prison.

这些信件简直是铁证如山。

Like, very damning letters.

莉迪亚在让他搬来同住之前，难道不知道他有多恨她吗？

Did Lydia not know how much he hated her before she let him move in with her family?

看起来她是这么做了。但她让他搬进来，可能更多是出于一种义务感，而不是真心想帮她弟弟。要知道，她住的那栋房子也是父母留给三个孩子的共同财产。所以我不确定肯尼斯到底给了她多少选择余地。嗯哼。关于住在那里的事。

It seems like she did. But, like, she let him move in probably because she felt some sense of obligation to, not because she's like jazzed to help out her brother. You see, the house that she was living in was also something that their parents left to all three kids. So I don't know how much of a choice Kenneth even really gave her Mhmm. In being there.

理论上说，那也算是他的房子。

In theory, it's kind of his house too.

是啊。我是说，从法律上讲，这甚至不是理论问题。实际上，根据肯尼斯在搬去和莉迪亚同住前那位室友的说法，他当时最在意的就是这栋房子。这位室友还向警方透露了一个有趣的信息：在七月到十一月间的某个时间点（时间跨度很大，他记不清具体日期），肯尼斯曾告诉他，莉迪亚全家搬离房子是因为害怕儿童保护机构会带走他们的孩子——但这一说法毫无证据支持。

Yeah. I mean, in in legal, like, not even theory. And really, it was apparently the house he was upset about more than anything, at least according to the roommate that Kenneth lived with right before he moved into the house with Lydia. And this roommate also says something interesting to police. He said that sometime between July and November, big window there, but he can't remember when, Kenneth told him that Lydia and her family moved out of the house because they were afraid that they were gonna lose their children to child protective services, which there is no evidence of this.

这更像是个用来解释房子为何突然人去楼空的借口。调查人员还发现，赫尔曼曾雇用过一名私家侦探，这名侦探与埃弗雷特的好友谈过。这位好友称，就在这家人失踪前几天，埃弗雷特带着儿子来访时，明显对肯尼斯和莉迪亚之间的状况感到焦虑。埃弗雷特甚至要求朋友'给他弄把枪，因为他要彻底解决这个问题'。不过他朋友试图安抚他，最终没给他弄枪，并告诫他别做傻事。

It sounds more like a story to explain why all of a sudden the house is empty to the sky. Now investigators also learned that Herman had hired a PI at some point who spoke to a close friend of Everett's. And this guy says that just a few days before the family disappeared, Everett brought his son over to visit, and he was, like, visibly stressed out about the situation between Kenneth and Lydia. And Everett even asked his friend to, quote, get him a gun because he was going to put an end to the situation, end quote. Now his friend tried, like, calming him down, never actually got him a gun, and told him not to do anything crazy.

但那是他们最后一次交谈。

But that was their last conversation.

不过肯尼斯现在似乎不住在那栋房子里了。哦，没有。调查期间——他现在人在哪里？

It doesn't seem like Kenneth is living in the house anymore though. Oh, no. During this investigation, like, where is he at this point?

没有。他很快就溜了。实际上他在1996年9月就把房子卖了，那时候调查都还没全面展开。他的做法是带着两份委托书去找了自己的律师。

No. He peaced out pretty quick. He sold it, in fact, way back in, like, September '96. So, like, really before they start a full on investigation. What he did was he took two power of attorney forms to his own attorney.

一份据称由莉迪亚签署，另一份则由他外州的姐姐签署。正是这些文件赋予了他出售房屋的全部权利。于是他卖掉了房子，莉迪亚、菲莉丝和肯尼斯都从中分到了钱——当然，除了根本找不到人的莉迪亚。结果肯尼斯不仅拿了自己那份，还把莉迪亚的份额也存进了自己账户。

One was signed by Lydia, allegedly, and the other by his out of state sister. And those forms were what gave him the full rights to sell the home. So he sells it, and both Lydia, Phyllis, and Kenneth get money from that sale, except, of course, Lydia is nowhere to be found. Right. So instead of just taking his own proceeds, Kenneth deposited Lydia's share into his savings account too.

美其名曰代为保管。

Just to keep it safe.

他心知肚明她不会回来索要这笔钱。但问题在于：支票背书写的是莉迪亚·怀特——这是她的娘家姓，明显露出了马脚，而且签名笔迹根本对不上。猜猜他还卖了什么？

Well, like, he knew she wasn't coming back to claim it. Exactly. But he made a big mistake. The check was endorsed by Lydia White, which was Lydia's maiden name, which is an obvious slip up, but it wasn't Lydia who signed the check. And guess what else he sold?

他们家那辆厢型车。他声称7月10日就把车卖给了一家拖车公司。

Their van. He says that he sold the van to a towing company back on July 10.

不是自己的车怎么卖？

I mean, how are you selling a van that's not yours?

警方找到拖车公司时，对方提供了7月10日的销售收据。但收据上的签名是埃弗里特·汤普森，根本不是肯尼斯。后来证实这签名也不是埃弗里特本人的——至少赫尔曼说不是他儿子的笔迹。虽然追查到了这些书面证据，最糟的是当他们查到这条线索时，那辆车早就被拆解成废铁了，几乎是刚完成交易就处理掉了。

Well, detectives go to this towing company, and the company gives him the receipt confirming sold on July 10, whatever. But the signature on the receipt is Everett Thompson, not Kenneth. And it's actually not Everett Thompson's either because they later confirm that the signature isn't Everett's or at least Herman says it's not his son's. But even though they were able to track all this paperwork and stuff, the bummer part is that by the time they get to this, the van had already been turned into scrap metal. And that that happened, like, shortly after the sale.

所以他们现在连房子都没了？那栋凶宅呢？如果全家是在那里遇害的，说不定还能找到些法医证据之类的痕迹。

So they don't have like, they don't own the house anymore or whatever. But what about the house? If the family was killed there, maybe there's some kind of forensic evidence left, like something.

这就是你真正看到红色的时候。他们最终搜查了房子，但直到大约97年才行动。为何那时？全都陷入困境。我不知道。

This is when you will see Red, but literally. So they do end up searching the house, not till, like, ninety seven. How or why then? All in the weeds. I don't know.

你需要知道的是，到了这个阶段，他们什么也没发现。不过他们和之前对这栋房子进行过施工的承包商谈过。他说，是啊，你知道，这房子挺奇怪的。他说他施工的时候，那家人已经失踪一个月了。他是被叫来的。

What you need to know is that by this point, they don't find anything. Now they talked to the contractor though that did some work on the house before it was sold. And he's like, yeah, you know, this was a weird one. He said that like the time when he was doing this, it was, like, a month after the family went missing. He's brought in.

他说在房子出售前，里面一团糟。厨房被拆得乱七八糟，橱柜都不见了，地板也被撬开了。毫无疑问，这些是在他们失踪时或之后发生的，因为他们和3号接警的警官谈过，就是那个在房子里走了一圈的人。

And he said before it was sold, the house was a mess. Like, the kitchen was all torn up. Cabinets were missing. The floors had been ripped out. And I mean, no doubt that this happened around the time that they went missing or after because they talked to the officer who responded to the call on the third, the one who, like, walked the house.

对，对。但她表示否定。她说她检查了每个房间，一切都很正常。

Yeah. Yeah. And she's like, no. I was inside every room. Like, everything was normal.

但最诡异的是，房子里有个卫生间的马桶和浴缸都被漆成了红色。

But the kicker is one of the bathrooms in the house had the toilet and the tub painted red.

什么？嗯。所以他是在确保不会留下任何法证痕迹。即使警方早就来了也查不出什么。

What? Mhmm. So he was making sure there would be no forensics to find. Like, even if they had come way earlier.

也许是吧。也许不是。我觉得那家人是在莉迪亚三点给埃弗雷特打电话后两小时内遇害的，然后肯尼斯就带着鞋上所谓的血迹回到餐厅，胡说什么埃弗雷特被捕了。但清理现场肯定花了很多时间。确实。

Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, I think the family died in, like, two hours between when Lydia called Everett at three and then when Kenneth shows back up at the restaurant with the alleged blood on his shoes, talking some nonsense about Everett being arrested. The cleanup though, that had to have taken so much time. Yeah.

刷墙，撬地板。更别提如何处理四具尸体了？想想看。要是那次福利检查再彻底些呢？我敢打赌。

Painting, ripping out floors. Not to mention, how do you dispose of four bodies? Think about it. What if that welfare check had been more thorough? I bet money.

肯尼斯刚走到前廊就说，哦，他们不在这儿。他们去度假了。就像，拜拜。他根本不让他们进门。要是警官当时真的搜查了，会发现什么呢？

Kenneth just came out on the front porch and was like, oh, they're not here. They went on vacay. Like, bye. Like, he's not letting them inside. What would the officer have found had he actually looked?

总之，他们在法医证据方面一无所获。甚至连尸体或足够血迹都没有，无法证明有人被谋杀。嗯。他们知道现在抓到肯尼斯的机会渺茫。至少能把他关进监狱，试图让他在那里招供，因为他们发现他未按规定登记为性犯罪者。

So all that to say, they have diddly squat when it comes to forensic evidence. They don't even have bodies or enough blood anywhere to prove that someone was murdered. Mhmm. They know their chances of getting Kenneth now are slim. They can at least put him in jail and try to get him to confess there because they find out that he failed to register as a sex offender.

所以他早在1996年11月左右就被逮捕过。他发誓与这家人失踪无关，但承认伪造了莉迪亚的签名出售房屋，不过出于最崇高的

So he had already gotten arrested sometime in like November 1996. He swears he had nothing to do with the family's disappearance, but he does admit to forging Lydia's signature for the sale of the house, but for the noblest

的

of

动机，只是因为他当时是她的委托代理人，打算把钱送到费城给她。

reasons, Only because he was acting as her power of attorney, and he was gonna deliver the money to her in Philadelphia.

是啊。好吧。你觉得她没开自家面包车，却在消失数月后还在费城度长周末呢？

Yeah. Okay. You think she's still on her long weekend in Philly without their van months after they drove off into the sunset.

好吧，先说个好消息。他们抓到他了。虽然不是以那起四重谋杀案的名义——虽然大家都觉得是他干的，但证据确凿的是银行诈骗。

Well, here's the good news on this. They got him. Like, not on quadruple murder homicide that they're all, like, but certain he committed. Yeah. But by him saying this, they have him on bank fraud.

哦，那可是联邦重罪。于是在1997年1月，联邦探员出动了，特别是约翰·拉尔森探员，他非常乐意接手此案。当他们处理银行诈骗案时，调查人员现在干劲十足，正想方设法构建刑事案件。

Oh. That is a federal crime. Yeah. So in January '97, in come the feds, specifically agent John Larson, who is more than happy to take on this case. And while they do their bank fraud thing, investigators now have a full fire under them, and they're trying to build a criminal case any way they can.

他们询问的证人都证实肯尼迪在撒谎——不是说那些谎言是真的，而是证实他对所有人都在编故事。比如他兑现支票时曾对陌生收银员说姐姐全家搬去了夏威夷，还告诉调查人员埃弗雷特带着莉迪亚和孩子是为躲避国税局或毒品债务和儿童福利局。他的说法反复横跳——有时说是自己开车送他们去巴士站，有时又说全家都坐上了去费城的巴士，还有版本说只有莉迪亚和埃弗雷特上了车，或是去了明尼阿波利斯。

They talk to witnesses that corroborate Kenneth's lies and not, like, say that they're actually true, just like that he was lying to everyone. Like, he told a random cashier as he was cashing checks that his sister and her family moved to Hawaii. He also told investigators at some point that Everett took Lydia and the children to escape the IRS or drug debts and the DCFS. Like, his story flip flops from him driving them to the bus terminal, but then sometimes he says they all got on the bus to Philly. Other times he says that only Lydia and Everett got on the bus or they went to Minneapolis.

好吧，那么孩子们在哪？谁知道呢？因为这男人的说辞根本前后矛盾。

Like, okay. Where are the boys? Yeah. Who knows? Because there's no consistent story coming out of this man.

调查人员确信现有证词足以证明肯尼迪在说谎。但为了推进刑事调查，他们需要法医证据。由于拖延太久，房屋和厢型车已无价值，但他们猜测肯尼迪可能保留或遗忘了某些东西。于是搜查了他卖房后搬去的住所——印第安纳州加里市的拖车屋，结果真有重大发现。还记得经理提到的那双血运动鞋吗？

Investigators are feeling confident that they have enough statements to prove that Kenneth has been lying. But to further their criminal investigation, they need forensic evidence. We know the house and the van are a bust because they waited too long, but they were thinking maybe Kenneth kept something or forgot about something. And so they searched the place that he moved to after he sold the house, this trailer he was living in in Gary, Indiana, and they actually hit gold. So remember those bloody sneakers that the manager saw?

没错，他们在拖车里找到一双经现场检测呈血液阳性的运动鞋，还在拖车夹层发现一只浸血的儿童袜。这些物品送交FBI犯罪实验室后，也检测出人血反应。我们曾咨询律师杰奎琳·罗斯，她认为DNA与其中一个男孩匹配。

Yeah. Well, they find a pair in his trailer that are field tested, and they test positive for the presence of blood. They also find a blood soaked child's sock in the crawl space of the trailer. Now they send those to the FBI crime lab, and it later tests positive for the presence of human blood too. Now we were able to ask attorney Jacqueline Ross, and she believes the DNA matched one of the boys.

但她表示案件负责人拉尔森探员掌握更多细节。不过这位探员行踪难觅——如果你听到这段，记得给我打电话。

But she said that agent Larson, who was lead on the case, would know more about that. But agent Larson is a hard man to track down. Like, give me a call if you hear this.

我是说，即便我们确定知道，这够了吗？我是说，这应该够了吗？

I mean, even if we know for sure, like, would this be enough? Like, should this be enough?

我是说，那个满身是血的孩子真可怜，他所有的谎言和故事都毫无意义。

I mean, like, the blood soaked child suck when all of his, like, lies and stories have nothing.

确凿无疑。是啊。

Damning. Yeah.

没错。而且从情况来看，这个案子确实在逐渐成形。肯尼斯肯定感觉到四面楚歌，因为FBI从他另一个外州的妹妹菲莉斯那里得到消息，她说肯尼斯曾试图让她向芝加哥警方谎称自己在96年某个时候和莉迪亚通过话，尽管实际上并没有。而且肯尼斯也知道她自7月4日左右就再没和莉迪亚联系过。总之，案情在推进，杰奎琳告诉我们97年12月时，肯尼斯因伪造签名被控银行欺诈，但仍未被控谋杀。

Yeah. And, like, circumstantially, this case is really building. And Kenneth must feel the walls closing in on him because the FBI gets word from his other sister, the one out of state, Phyllis, who says that Kenneth tried getting her to tell Chicago PD that she'd talked to Lydia sometime in '96 even though she hadn't. And, like, Kenneth also knew she hadn't talked to Lydia since, like, around July 4. But, anyway, so it's building, and Jacqueline tells us that sometime in December '97, Kenneth gets charged with bank fraud for that forged signature, but still not murder.

但最耐人寻味的是，他们借此机会澄清事实。我从未见过这样的操作。不是说以前没发生过，但参与本期节目的团队成员都觉得这特别有意思。基本上，他们认为肯尼斯的欺诈行为动机是为了杀害汤普森家四口人。他们用那份宣誓书详细陈述了案发经过。

But what's so interesting is that they use this as a chance to set the record straight. And I've never seen anything like this before. Not saying it hasn't happened, but, like, it was just so interesting to everyone on the team who worked on this episode. Basically, they said that Kenneth committed fraud that was motivated by murdering all four Thompson family members. And they used that affidavit to spell out what they think happened.

文件显示肯尼斯对妹妹处理遗产和父母房产的方式极度愤怒，以至于想除掉她来独占房产和钱财。暴怒之下他袭击了莉迪亚，而她的孩子们和埃弗雷特不幸在场，在他眼里只是附带伤害。杰奎琳24日出庭时告诉我们，肯尼斯显得很震惊——他原以为只是银行欺诈指控，当谋杀罪名被提及时，他惊讶得猛地后仰。就在第二天，他在牢房里结束了自己的生命。

It says that Kenneth was so mad at his sister for how she handled the inheritance and their parents' house after they passed, that he basically wanted her out of the picture so that he could get the home, he could get the money. And his rage led him to attack Lydia, and her kids and Everett were just unfortunately there, like collateral damage in his mind. Now Jacqueline was there in court on the twenty fourth and told us that Kenneth seemed shocked. Like, he knew his charge was bank fraud, but when they brought up the murder allegations, like, I guess his head, like, flew back in surprise. And the next day, the very next day, he took his own life in his prison cell.

据《芝加哥论坛报》报道，他没有留下遗书。但杰奎琳告诉我们，他给妹妹菲莉斯发了最后一条信息，大意是'我做了非常恶劣的事，你可能再也收不到我的消息了'。关于汤普森一家下落的答案很可能随肯尼斯一同消失。根据《每日纪事报》记载，调查人员确实在他死后重返其拖车屋寻找线索，并在车底发现可能是人类的骨状碎片以及纤维织物——那是98年6月的事。他们甚至出动尸体嗅探犬在周边搜查。

According to the Chicago Tribune, he didn't leave a note, but Jacqueline told us that he did send one final message to his sister Phyllis, saying something along the lines of, I did a really bad thing. You may not be hearing from me again. And any potential answers about the Thompson family's whereabouts probably died with Kenneth. I mean, according to the Daily Chronicle, investigators do go back to Kenneth's trailer after his death to search for clues, and they do find some bone like fragments that might be human along with fibers and fabrics found underneath it, and that was, like, June '98. They even bring out cadaver dogs to like sniff around the area.

现在我知道那些物品已被送往华盛顿特区的FBI犯罪实验室，但分析结果无从得知。而且我们再次无法获取相关记录。早在1998年，警方确实向所有人发出呼吁，无论是狱友还是其他认识肯尼斯的人，只要掌握他可能透露的家人下落信息。他们几乎是恳求人们站出来提供线索。这一呼吁至今仍然有效。

Now I know that those items were sent off to the FBI crime lab in DC, but there's no telling what the analysis showed. And again, we couldn't get the records. Back in 1998, police did put out a plea to anyone, cellmate or otherwise, that knew Kenneth that might have information from him about where he put the family. Like, they're begging people to come forward. And that is what still stands today.

本案基本上已经结案。我的意思是，主要嫌疑人已经去世，埃弗雷特的父母也已离世。但埃弗雷特的兄弟姐妹们还在，莉迪亚的姐姐也健在。所以如果有听众掌握本案线索，请联系芝加哥警察局失踪人口调查科，电话(312)745-5020。您可以在我们的官网crimejunkie.com上找到本期所有原始资料。

This case is essentially closed. I mean, the main suspect has passed and so have Everett's mom and dad. But Everett's siblings are still here and so is Lydia's sister. So if anyone listening has information about this case, please contact the Chicago PD Missing Persons Division at (312) 745-5020. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkie.com.

您可以在Instagram上关注我们，账号是crimejunkiepodcast。

And you can follow us on Instagram at crime junkie podcast.

《犯罪迷》是Audio Chuck制作的节目。我想查克会认可的。

Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. I think Chuck would approve.