Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Missing Ashley Mullis: A father’s frustration

Transcript

Missing Ashley Mullis: A father’s frustration · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:06
Speaker 1: I just want my daughter Ashley home. She has three
0:10
Speaker 1: kids that miss her. The parents of Ashley Morris Mullis
0:15
Speaker 1: having increased a reward for information leading to the recovery
0:20
Speaker 1: of their year old daughter, she went missing September. Results.
0:26
Speaker 1: We want results. What's going on? Who's responsible? This is
0:31
Speaker 1: crime stories with Nancy Grace. It's rough. She's been missing
0:35
Speaker 1: way too long. She's been gone from her family for
0:38
Speaker 1: too long. Her kids need her, her family need her.
0:41
Speaker 1: We love her, We miss her dearly. We prayed that
0:45
Speaker 1: they might be reunited here and now in this life.
0:49
Speaker 1: The lord of this is not to be then we
0:52
Speaker 1: prayed for justice, that this evil thing be exposed and
0:56
Speaker 1: brought the life you know. Last night I sat on
1:00
Speaker 1: the floor of the JFK and the LaGuardia Airport until midnight.
1:08
Speaker 1: I stayed overnight in a hotel that was between a
1:11
Speaker 1: Kennedy's not Kentucky, but Kennedy's Fried Chicken and a Chinese
1:17
Speaker 1: funeral home. I slept for exactly three hours and ten minutes,
1:22
Speaker 1: and I got up, sat up in the bed, put
1:26
Speaker 1: on my boots and walked out with my bags. Why.
1:32
Speaker 1: I wanted to get home to my twins. I had
1:38
Speaker 1: to leave them for two nights with my mom and
1:42
Speaker 1: a babysitter and a sister in law. But I had
1:46
Speaker 1: to find them. I had to get back to them.
1:50
Speaker 1: And today I'm telling you the story of a father
1:57
Speaker 1: who was still looking for his daughter. I Nancy Grace,
2:04
Speaker 1: this is crime Stories. That father is Don Morris, that
2:11
Speaker 1: daughter is Ashley. Don. Thank you so much for being
2:18
Speaker 1: with us. Please tell me when you first learned the
2:22
Speaker 1: moment you realized something wasn't right, Ashley was gone? Well,
2:28
Speaker 1: uh we Uh, me and my wife had asked my son,
2:34
Speaker 1: you know, called my son talked to her on a
2:36
Speaker 1: daily basis and uh. It was after our family reunion
2:42
Speaker 1: and she had been seen at the family reunion on September.
2:50
Speaker 1: And a few days later, I asked my son if
2:53
Speaker 1: you had heard from my daughter Ashley and he said no.
2:58
Speaker 1: And he says, Dad, it's something's all right, because I
3:02
Speaker 1: hear from Ashley every day, and me and the wife,
3:04
Speaker 1: she was coming by, you know, every other day, or
3:07
Speaker 1: you know, the least, you know, at least every week.
3:10
Speaker 1: So a couple more days had passed by, and I
3:14
Speaker 1: asked my son if she had heard from her, and
3:16
Speaker 1: he said no, and sold me and the wife went
3:19
Speaker 1: to her house and tried to locate her at her house.
3:22
Speaker 1: So at this point we didn't find nobody at the house,
3:26
Speaker 1: so we wrote a note on the door. Well, we'd
3:30
Speaker 1: put this note on the door, hoping that you know
3:33
Speaker 1: this Dan York Feller, would you know or Ashley would
3:37
Speaker 1: see this note the contact me. Well, uh, nobody contacted.
3:42
Speaker 1: Two more days, we tried to we've been trying to
3:45
Speaker 1: car the phone, and no answers on the phone, and
3:48
Speaker 1: and you know, no answers at the door. So like
3:51
Speaker 1: you said, we'd have to note and uh, so nobody
3:55
Speaker 1: contacts us. So we wait, you know, a couple more days,
3:58
Speaker 1: and we put in another her load on the door
4:01
Speaker 1: because we noticed that one was missing. So we put
4:04
Speaker 1: another note off the door. You know, please contact us.
4:07
Speaker 1: We're concerned, we're worried. Wait wait wait wait wait, let
4:10
Speaker 1: me understand something done. You said the first night was missing,
4:14
Speaker 1: the first night was gone, yes, yes, yes, okay, So
4:22
Speaker 1: we keep said, you know, we didn't know if the
4:24
Speaker 1: wind bloated off the door, you know, or you know,
4:27
Speaker 1: somebody took it off the door. You know, she might
4:30
Speaker 1: not have got it. So we put another note on
4:32
Speaker 1: the door. And uh, you know, no no communication, nobody
4:38
Speaker 1: called us back or nothing. So we contact her boyfriend,
4:45
Speaker 1: which is Danior. He was twice her age. But we
4:50
Speaker 1: contact him and he said that she had left. But
5:00
Speaker 1: after he avoided us for two weeks, he and we
5:04
Speaker 1: had to track him a minute. He says, she just
5:08
Speaker 1: up and left, just didn't call. You didn't say, daddy,
5:12
Speaker 1: You're never gonna believe what happened. I gotta go nothing
5:15
Speaker 1: just bam gone. Right. Yet something was wrong, right, and
5:20
Speaker 1: we didn't And this is when we went to the
5:22
Speaker 1: police department. Well the police department Mike Scroggins was the
5:29
Speaker 1: chief of police of Delaware Kevity, which come to find out,
5:36
Speaker 1: was related to this day in York. So we don't
5:41
Speaker 1: feel there was a thorough investigation from the start. Even
5:45
Speaker 1: at this point, they still haven't investigated here property, his
5:50
Speaker 1: rental property. Uh you know, they haven't used cadaver dogs
5:55
Speaker 1: nowhere on his properties. And you know, as we've done
6:00
Speaker 1: were research, we found out more about this guy that
6:03
Speaker 1: he was doing drugs. Um you know that his kid
6:08
Speaker 1: was involved with moving my daughter's belongings. His daughter and
6:13
Speaker 1: his son, me and Leandrew, my wife had went over
6:17
Speaker 1: there and of course we had called the police, Hey,
6:20
Speaker 1: somebody's moving Ashley's belongings and say just let him move
6:25
Speaker 1: her belongings. I mean, they took all everything out of
6:28
Speaker 1: that house and left with everything in there, so there's
6:32
Speaker 1: no evidence of nothing. They took everything out of that house.
6:36
Speaker 1: They would not let me have my daughters belonging if
6:39
Speaker 1: they moved on her stuff. Where did they put it?
6:42
Speaker 1: I don't know. We've seen a moving van that went
6:46
Speaker 1: to York Town and we've seen my daughter's organ through
6:50
Speaker 1: the window. So we called the police and we told him,
6:54
Speaker 1: you know, we want that truck investigated because you know, uh,
6:57
Speaker 1: this truck had been sighted up nights before that by
7:01
Speaker 1: the neighbors telling us that that truck was pulled up
7:05
Speaker 1: through the yard backed up to the back door at
7:09
Speaker 1: one thirty in the morning. Now I think that's when
7:13
Speaker 1: he took my daughter's body. How that apps in this
7:17
Speaker 1: moving truck. Well, a couple of days later, we've seen
7:20
Speaker 1: this same moving truck moving her belongings out, So we
7:24
Speaker 1: called the police and the police wouldn't let us have
7:28
Speaker 1: none of her belongings. Then, Uh, a couple of days later,
7:33
Speaker 1: we've seen another truck moving some more of our belongings. Well,
7:37
Speaker 1: we take the plate numbers of the trucks and one
7:40
Speaker 1: of them his lawyer's truck taking her belongings out at
7:43
Speaker 1: this point. So it's been messed up from the start.
7:48
Speaker 1: But to come to find out the sheriff was related
7:52
Speaker 1: to Dan York. It was his cousin. So that's why
7:55
Speaker 1: I think so much was covered up from the beginning
7:58
Speaker 1: in this whole case. And let me understand something. How
8:03
Speaker 1: long has it now been since you have spoken to
8:07
Speaker 1: or seen your daughter? It's been free well September two
8:13
Speaker 1: thousand thirteen. Ill those four years, not a word, not
8:17
Speaker 1: one word. I believe he'd done something to my daughter.
8:22
Speaker 1: When you go to the police, what do they say, Well,
8:26
Speaker 1: sometimes they don't even answer their phone. You know they
8:29
Speaker 1: know who it is. They don't answer their phones. They
8:32
Speaker 1: don't call me back. Uh. I've took it to court
8:36
Speaker 1: twice here in Delaware County over my granddaughter because uh,
8:42
Speaker 1: we got guardianship over Ashley Okay, ships he was dead
8:50
Speaker 1: when he went to court and we got awarded guardianship.
8:54
Speaker 1: We should have got the baby because he's a lawyer. Uh.
8:58
Speaker 1: Jill Gonzalez went to court for this man and he
9:01
Speaker 1: was a dead man. And now on that day we
9:04
Speaker 1: got guardianship, but his wife had uh, they had took
9:09
Speaker 1: off to Florida where they had sent her daughter down
9:11
Speaker 1: there to put her in the house, to act like
9:14
Speaker 1: they had been living there for six months, so they'd
9:17
Speaker 1: have a residency in Florida. And then they took in Florida,
9:21
Speaker 1: they took oh, well, after he had passed away, she
9:25
Speaker 1: had took and adopted my granddaughter, Abigail. And how has
9:30
Speaker 1: has adopted her in Florida and since has changed her name. Oh,
9:35
Speaker 1: my stars. And this is the biggest legal mess. Oh
9:40
Speaker 1: my stars, this is a right there was There was
9:43
Speaker 1: no DNA to even proved that he was in fathers
9:47
Speaker 1: in the state India. Okay, you've got so many legal
9:57
Speaker 1: issues going so many different directions. Let me get back
10:00
Speaker 1: to the first one. And I'm not saying it's less
10:04
Speaker 1: important than the granddaughter, but let me get back to
10:06
Speaker 1: her disappearance. What kind of investigation took place? What? If any?
10:12
Speaker 1: I don't think very good one at all, because see,
10:15
Speaker 1: when we went to the mayor in Delaware County, I
10:20
Speaker 1: had asked for the file, you know, uh, the documentation
10:26
Speaker 1: that the police had had and the officer had told
10:31
Speaker 1: me at this point, well, dog, you know there's there's
10:35
Speaker 1: hundreds of pieces of paper, and it costs so much
10:37
Speaker 1: for a piece of paper. I said, I don't care
10:40
Speaker 1: how much paperwork theree is and how much it is
10:43
Speaker 1: a piece. I want the paperwork. So when I when
10:46
Speaker 1: I go to get the paperwork, there's a page and
10:50
Speaker 1: a half, and every bit of that page and a half,
10:53
Speaker 1: I believe I still got the paper where it was
10:57
Speaker 1: the case file paper that I went and got off
10:59
Speaker 1: the tops and some of us blacked out. Then all
11:04
Speaker 1: the things that they had done, none none of it
11:07
Speaker 1: was in numerical order. None of the dates was numerical
11:11
Speaker 1: order or nothing more. So the paperwork he had done
11:17
Speaker 1: was niel enough. Okay, I want to go back to
11:23
Speaker 1: the day she goes missing. Okay, the last time you
11:26
Speaker 1: saw her? I know there was a family reunion. Is
11:29
Speaker 1: that when you saw her last? Well, my family absolved her.
11:33
Speaker 1: I've seen me and the wife had seen her on
11:35
Speaker 1: the nine Kids and we didn't make it to the
11:38
Speaker 1: family union, but my family had seen her. I think
11:41
Speaker 1: it was either the twenty second or there is when
11:46
Speaker 1: my family union and when when you saw her did
11:52
Speaker 1: she suggest there was any problem within the relationship. It
11:56
Speaker 1: was anything going on out of the out of the ordinary.
12:00
Speaker 1: The last time I've seen her, she looked worried. I mean,
12:03
Speaker 1: she just looked worried. And I still hit myself in
12:06
Speaker 1: the head per saying, watch her wrong. You know, I
12:09
Speaker 1: didn't ask her what was wrong, and I probably should
12:12
Speaker 1: have stepped in, but you know, my daughter at this
12:15
Speaker 1: point was twenty seven years old, you know, and I
12:19
Speaker 1: didn't want to meddle in her business, you know what
12:21
Speaker 1: I mean. And uh, I've seen in her face something
12:25
Speaker 1: was wrong. What did you say to her anything? Well,
12:30
Speaker 1: we were just sitting and talked and she had brought Abigail,
12:32
Speaker 1: my granddaughter, over to visit with us, and you know,
12:37
Speaker 1: we's just sitting I think I bought us supper that evening,
12:41
Speaker 1: and you know we sat here in eighth and uh,
12:45
Speaker 1: it just you know, I just seen a depressing look
12:47
Speaker 1: on her face. But to come to find out down
12:51
Speaker 1: the road what was going on was she and as
12:55
Speaker 1: your guy was having one financial problems and she was
13:01
Speaker 1: married to Justin Mallis, which he's a whole another story
13:07
Speaker 1: which that ship and she would soon have been allowed
13:09
Speaker 1: to get divorced because she wouldn't even at the court
13:12
Speaker 1: to get divorced on that situation. But Justin's cousin is
13:16
Speaker 1: the one that introduced her to Dan to get service
13:20
Speaker 1: work done on her band because he owned to automotive groups.
13:23
Speaker 1: That's how they first met. Back to when you saw her,
13:28
Speaker 1: she seemed worried, and it turned out that she and
13:32
Speaker 1: the boyfriend, we're having financial problems. And this is what
13:38
Speaker 1: this is what Crystal Mollis had told me. And she
13:41
Speaker 1: also told me that Ashley told her that she was
13:44
Speaker 1: going to go to Dan's wife and tell him that
13:49
Speaker 1: that was Dan's baby that she conceived. Why Dan was
13:53
Speaker 1: still married to her because c Dan was playing both
13:56
Speaker 1: women at the time. Ashley was living in Dan's little
14:00
Speaker 1: promptly and evidently dan Or was given Ashley money to
14:05
Speaker 1: pay his wife and she had not known about you
14:09
Speaker 1: know then date, So she was going to go kill
14:14
Speaker 1: his wife's once. And I think that's what was worrying
14:19
Speaker 1: her so much, because she was, you know, uh, having
14:22
Speaker 1: money issues with him and also was gonna put the
14:27
Speaker 1: word to his wife that they had a kid together
14:30
Speaker 1: and it was date. That is a loaded scenario. All
14:36
Speaker 1: kind of things can go wrong with that scenario. So
14:39
Speaker 1: have you talked to the boyfriend? What did he tell you?
14:42
Speaker 1: Last time I've seen him? My wife demanded he bring
14:46
Speaker 1: Abigail over it. Well, he told us that she had
14:49
Speaker 1: just helped to Lafe and she he was providing the
14:52
Speaker 1: van for and he told police if she left in
14:55
Speaker 1: the brand card. Well, last time we've seen her, she
14:58
Speaker 1: was in a red maroon meet and he was flying
15:02
Speaker 1: that band forward. Well when we caught up with him,
15:05
Speaker 1: was in Anderson and he was driving at Men and
15:08
Speaker 1: he had my granddaughter. He took off from my granddaughter.
15:10
Speaker 1: But he come by here one day and I told
15:13
Speaker 1: him myself, wud just think you out of that truck
15:15
Speaker 1: and beach here? But you know, I mean, because you
15:18
Speaker 1: don't let somebody go for two weeks and not even
15:20
Speaker 1: notified the parents and the grandparents and the baby, and
15:23
Speaker 1: say Ashley took off, especially after we don't left two
15:27
Speaker 1: notes on his door. You know, then he starts moving
15:30
Speaker 1: on her belongings out. You know, he can't do that.
15:33
Speaker 1: That's against long. You know, if she's rinting that house,
15:36
Speaker 1: you know, he can't bower belongings out until he gets
15:40
Speaker 1: poured ordered too, you know, And he just does what
15:43
Speaker 1: he wants because the chief of police is as good.
15:47
Speaker 1: It's just been messed up from the start. Man she
15:50
Speaker 1: It's just been one big, terrible, frustrating headache when you
15:56
Speaker 1: go out, you go out on weekends and you put
15:59
Speaker 1: out flyers and you look for her. Where do you go? Well,
16:04
Speaker 1: I've been all over this town of months. I've been
16:08
Speaker 1: to Rorton, I've been to York Town, York towns. You've
16:12
Speaker 1: got to say where you don't You ain't the land
16:15
Speaker 1: to put posters up. I put them on every telephone
16:18
Speaker 1: pole there because I didn't share Nancy. If they take
16:21
Speaker 1: me to jail for looking for my kid, they take
16:23
Speaker 1: me to jail. And I've stood on corners with signs,
16:27
Speaker 1: have stood on every side of town with signs, and
16:30
Speaker 1: I have stood downtown with signs. I'll tell you what
16:34
Speaker 1: I think, Alan, regardless of what's in the file, let
16:38
Speaker 1: me just break it down. Typically, police are in touch
16:43
Speaker 1: with the victims family and they keep them abreast and updated,
16:49
Speaker 1: not all the time, but to let them know what's
16:52
Speaker 1: happening in the case. And Alan, I really believe that
16:56
Speaker 1: this is a time to call on the Attorney General
17:01
Speaker 1: and have an independent inspection about what's going on in
17:03
Speaker 1: the case, don't you This is so bizarre, convoluted, and sad.
17:09
Speaker 1: We will be talking with the lead detective. We're gonna
17:11
Speaker 1: have him on the phone, so we'll find out what's
17:13
Speaker 1: going on that end. But somebody needs to go over
17:15
Speaker 1: somebody's head on this. Now. Let me make sure I
17:17
Speaker 1: understand this boyfriend who you suspect he has now deceased.
17:22
Speaker 1: Is that what I'm hearing? Or am I confused? Yeah? Yeah,
17:25
Speaker 1: and it's yes, he's he's deceased, and uh, I got
17:28
Speaker 1: his testor chip goods. But he died the day before
17:31
Speaker 1: I went to Port. And if lawyer still went to
17:34
Speaker 1: Port and Jessie, boy, the thing that would really be
17:37
Speaker 1: eating me up right now as a grandfather is not
17:39
Speaker 1: being able to see those grandkids. I mean, there is
17:42
Speaker 1: that mystery, horrible mystery about your daughter. But now you
17:45
Speaker 1: also have lost your granddaughter and she is off in
17:49
Speaker 1: another state with apparently a woman who's not related to
17:53
Speaker 1: her because she was related to the person who you
17:56
Speaker 1: believe killed your daughter. Is that the case? This is crazy,
18:00
Speaker 1: But to talk and all of hearing loom in Florida.
18:02
Speaker 1: She lives in Georgiatouch. She lives in one citty over
18:05
Speaker 1: from me. She just went to Florida to get documentation.
18:09
Speaker 1: Then when I go to Delaware County, do tell me
18:12
Speaker 1: I got to go to Port and Georida to do
18:15
Speaker 1: MC court work there. When the State of Indiana says
18:17
Speaker 1: you're gonna have DNA within so many days and monch
18:21
Speaker 1: and that never happy. What we have to do is
18:25
Speaker 1: figure out what to do now. And I think the
18:29
Speaker 1: only is not getting answers from local police. So what
18:32
Speaker 1: has to be done now is to go to the
18:35
Speaker 1: local the state a g and call for an independent investigation.
18:40
Speaker 1: It is just that simple, guys. We are talking about
18:44
Speaker 1: a beautiful young woman, Ashley Morris Mullis. Practically every weekend,
18:50
Speaker 1: her dad Dawn can be seen every Sunday standing on
18:55
Speaker 1: one street corner or another with handmade posters handing out
19:00
Speaker 1: or displaying information about his little girl. He goes every weekend,
19:07
Speaker 1: he tries, he looks for her, he puts up posters.
19:11
Speaker 1: He's never given up. And now his granddaughter is beyond
19:15
Speaker 1: his reach as well. And with us today that father
19:20
Speaker 1: that has never given up, Don Morris on the search
19:23
Speaker 1: for his daughter, Ashley Morris mullis right now. I want
19:28
Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor, simply Safe, who's making our podcast
19:33
Speaker 1: in our search for Ashley possible. Simply Safe at simply
19:37
Speaker 1: safe dot com makes home security available for everyone at
19:43
Speaker 1: four a month and easy to install. I cover so
19:50
Speaker 1: many cases, and I've prosecuted so many cases when a
19:54
Speaker 1: home security system would have made all the difference. Go
19:58
Speaker 1: to simply save dot come slash Nancy for another ten
20:03
Speaker 1: off two Don, Don, My question is have you thought
20:10
Speaker 1: of going higher above the police department? Now that's I've
20:15
Speaker 1: been to clime stoppers, I've been to the FBI, I've
20:19
Speaker 1: been to state police and I get the same results.
20:25
Speaker 1: Not no help. Okay, you know what were you haven't
20:28
Speaker 1: been yet the state Attorney General's office, and that's where
20:32
Speaker 1: I think you need to go. And I'm going to
20:34
Speaker 1: get that information and contact them along with you. That's
20:40
Speaker 1: what Alan, Duke and I are going to do. Guys
20:44
Speaker 1: joining me is Ashley's dad, Don, who is still looking
20:50
Speaker 1: for his daughter. We're joining the search. Don. If your
20:56
Speaker 1: daughter could hear you today, what is your message to her? Well,
21:02
Speaker 1: my message would be to contact me and your mother
21:06
Speaker 1: and he's us of the pain and suffering we're going
21:10
Speaker 1: through at this point because, uh, it is terribly hard
21:14
Speaker 1: to concentrate on any one thing. It's hard to concentrate
21:18
Speaker 1: on work. It's you know, life is miserable. You know.
21:23
Speaker 1: We uh love our daughter with all her heart and
21:26
Speaker 1: you know, if she's out there somewhere, contact us, let
21:30
Speaker 1: us know. But at this point I don't believe that
21:35
Speaker 1: because Athlete was one not to never contact us. You know,
21:39
Speaker 1: if she needed something, she'd come to her dad to
21:41
Speaker 1: get it, you know, And I'm sure there's needs that
21:45
Speaker 1: she's had within the last three years that she would
21:48
Speaker 1: have contacted me and letting me know this. Uh, you know,
21:52
Speaker 1: because I truly believe she's She's not high. Now, John,
21:57
Speaker 1: do you believe your daughter has Do you believe she's
22:00
Speaker 1: been murdered? I believe this man has done something to
22:04
Speaker 1: my daughter and that's what killed him. He had a
22:06
Speaker 1: heart attack and that's what killed his son, and that's
22:08
Speaker 1: what killed Strogan's all three because Carmen took its place
22:12
Speaker 1: on all three of them, and all three of them
22:15
Speaker 1: is that as well? So you really believe you you
22:20
Speaker 1: believe your daughter is not missing, you think she's been killed? Yes,
22:25
Speaker 1: I believe this Again, to simply safe. He was making
22:29
Speaker 1: this search for Ashley, this renewed search for Ashley possible.
22:34
Speaker 1: Thank you for being our sponsor and our partner. You
22:39
Speaker 1: know it's a tough world, but I still believe in
22:43
Speaker 1: Lady Justice. I still believe it unsolved. Homicides can be solved,
22:50
Speaker 1: missing people can be found if we work together. Simply
22:55
Speaker 1: say thank you with me is Ashley's dad. He's our
23:00
Speaker 1: thoughts and our prayers, and more than that, he's in
23:04
Speaker 1: our efforts when we're going to try our best to
23:07
Speaker 1: help him find his daughter and not only that, be
23:11
Speaker 1: reunited with his granddaughter. Nancy Grace Crime Stories signing off
23:18
Speaker 1: goodbye friend,