[Note:
While most other pages on my site strive for a compelling narrative,
the following represents a long and mostly comprehensive discussion of
Officer Regenia Meek's actions on May 5, 1993.]
Officer
Meek's Busy Evening
Officer Regenia Meek joined the West Memphis police in
January 1985 and worked patrol for the northeast ward of West Memphis
on the evening of May 5th, 1993. This district included the addresses
of the families of all three victims, where the victims were last seen
and the area where they were ultimately found.
Officer Meek testified that she took the
Incident (missing persons) Reports for Christopher Byers and
Michael Moore. For some reason her
testimony left out her role in taking the report for Steve Branch.
She testified briefly at Misskelley's trial and this
provides the thumbnail version of her actions that evening.
Fogleman: Patrolman Meek I want
to direct your attention to May the 5th 1993. At sometime around 8:00
were you dispatched to 1400 E. Barton?
Meek: Yes
sir, I was.
Fogleman: And
what time did you arrive?
Meek: Around
8:10.
Fogleman: And
whose residence was 1400 E. Barton?
Meek: The
Byers' residence.
Fogleman: And
when you were at that residence, what did you find when you got
there?
Meek: Okay.
When I got there I found a mother and father worried about their
missing son. Their 8 year old son.
Fogleman: And
while you were there did you have contact with any other parents?
Meek: Yes,
sir, Mrs. Moore came and knocked on the door while I was taking a
report from Mr. and Mrs. Byers and told me that her son was with the
Byers boy and also Steve Branch was with them. She had saw them earlier.
Fogleman:
Alright. And did you take a formal report from her at that time?
Meek: No, sir
I did not. I just finished the Byers' report and when I left there I
could not relocate her because she was still looking for her son. And I
found her again around 9:24.
Fogleman:
Okay. Alright, now after taking the report, what efforts if any did you
make to try to locate these children?
Meek: Okay. I
had been advised by Mrs. Moore that the last time anyone saw them they
were going toward a wooded area. Of course it was nicknamed Robin Hood
by the children. And it was pointed out to me. There was 2 entrances,
and since they had told me that a couple of people had went into the
entrance off of Goodwin I went down to McCauley.
Fogleman:
Okay. Now if you could, could you take this pointer, and directing your
attention to State's Exhibit 101. Would you point to the jury, point
out to the jury this area that's known as Robin Hood and the 2
entrances?
Meek: Okay,
let's see. This area here, is Robin Hood. This is McCauley St. here and
this is a pipe that runs across the bayou, here. Okay, there's trails
and paths all throughout here. They told me that some people had came
in from this side, from over here. So I came in from here, and went down to the pipe. The
pipe's where I stopped.
Fogleman:
When you went into that area about what time was it?
Meek: It was
turning dark. I didn't look, didn't
look at my watch to see what time it was. But it was turning, it was
well on it's way to dark.
Fogleman:
Alright. And was there any particular thing about the, the
conditions that you noted?
Meek: Yes,
sir. When I went down the hill to the pipe, of course the weeds were
extremely high, the mosquitos were tremendous. I was breathing in
mosquitos it was so bad. And I decided at that time, that three 8 year
old boys would not be staying in the woods with mosquitos that
bad. And I turned around and went back to my vehicle and decided
to start checking buildings and other areas.
Fogleman:
Alright. And did you do that?
Meek: Yes sir.
Fogleman: And
how long did you continue to search?
Meek: I went
back to the police department around 11:15
or 11:20. [Meek testimony, Misskelley trial.]
In brief summary,
she was dispatched to the Byers and got there around 8:10 pm. She took
the Byers missing child report. Mrs. Moore popped in and told Meek that
the three children were together. (In Byers missing person report
(photo, above) Meek mentions Michael Moore as also missing but not
Steve Branch.) Mrs. Moore left before filing an official
report. Meek found Mrs. Moore again at 9:24 and got the report at that
time. Meek briefly looked for the
victims at the dead end of McAuley. Meek
continued to search for the children until shortly
after the end of her shift -- until approximately 11:15 pm. Adding in
other
documented times relevant to the events she noted, we have the
barebones version of her evening.
Meek's Evening, Barebones Version.
- 7:49
pm. Sunset.
- 8:08
pm. Call dispatched to Meek: "1400
E. Barton [Byers residence] - missing juvenile." [dispatch log]
- 8:08 -
8:29
pm. On scene at Byers residence, taking missing person report. Time on
report, 8:10. [dispatch log, above testimony]
- 9:24
pm. Statement taken from
Dana Moore at her house, 1398 E. Barton. Not in the police log. [Time
on report and from above testimony]
- After
9:24 pm. After report was taken, went down to the pipe at the
dead end of
McAculey. She described this as taking place when it was "turning dark"
and "well on the way to dark." [Above cited testimony. In the
Echols/Baldwin tesimony she makes clear that visiting the pipe was
after taking Mrs. Moore's statement - although it would have been dark
for some time.]
- "[After
going to the pipe] I turned around and went back to my vehicle and
decided to start checking buildings and other areas."
- Continued
searching until 11:15 or 11:20 pm. [Above cited testimony]
In the Misskelley trial, Officer John Moore, no relation
to the Moore victim's family, testified as to taking the missing
person report from the Hobbs for their son, Stevie Branch. His
testimony was brief and
unchallenged.
Fogleman: And
approximately
9:25 or so did you respond to Catfish Island?
Officer
Moore: Yes sir.
Fogleman: Alright,
and what did you find when you got there?
Officer
Moore: I met there with Mrs. Hobbs and her husband and I believe she
had a child with her. She stated that one of her, or that her son,
Steve Branch was missing.
Fogleman:
Okay, and did you make, start an incident report about that?
Officer
Moore: Yes, an incident report. [Officer John Moore testimony,
Misskelley trial]
Note, Fogelman asks whether he "started" an incident
report. This phrasing suggests that Fogleman knows that Officer Moore
did not finish
the report. Which segues into the next piece of the puzzle. Officer
Meek clearly filled out the complaint from the Hobbs.
Missing person report, Steve
Branch. 5/5/93.
Branch's report narrative is written in the same writing
as the Byers' report (top of page), and the same as the Moore report.
To facilitate the comparison:
The first line of the narrative
from all three reports.
And if this isn't enough, Meek's name is on the front of
the
Branch report.
The
missing person report for Branch, first page. Meek is included as a
reporting officer.
From the documents, Meek's participation in filling out
the Branch report is clear. Why was this was missing from her
narrative of the evening in her testimony? Another question: when did
she take the report? The Branch report has a time of 9:25
pm and is about a mile aways from the Michael Moore report at 9:24 pm.
This problem becomes even more complicated when factoring in testimony
from the Echols/Baldwin trial. First, Officer Moore:
[Defense attorney] Val Price:
Officer Moore, did you receive a call to go to Catfish Island to talk
to Terry Hobbs?
Officer
Moore: Yes sir.
Price: Ok.
And do you recall approximately what time that you arrived at Catfish
Island?
Officer
Moore: I
believe -
Price: - You
can go ahead and refer to your notes if you need to.
Officer
Moore: It was around 9:25, I believe.
Price: Ok.
And were you the officer that took the missing persons report from Mrs.
Hobbs?
Officer
Moore: Yes
sir, I was the one who started it. [Testimony, Officer John Moore,
Echols/Baldwin trial]
Again, it is made clear Officer Moore started the report,
leaving
open who finished it. From the Misskelley trial, Officer Moore made
clear who was there at the time. "I met there with Mrs. Hobbs and
her husband and I believe she
had a child with her." [Officer John Moore testimony, Misskelley
trial]. In the Echols/Baldwin trial he refers to another officer.
Fogleman: Alright. After taking that
report, what did you do?
Officer Moore: The other
officer said that there were some people over on McCauley and I went
over in that area. And did an initial search that night.
[Officer John
Moore testimony,
Echols/Baldwin trial]
Officer Moore goes on to give an approximate time to his
actions.
Price: Ok. And after you left
this, do you know approximately what time it was that you left Catfish
Island?
Officer
Moore: Oh, I'd say probably about 9:35.
Price: Ok.
Officer
Moore: - 9:40, somewhere in there.
Price: Ok.
And at that time, do you recall where you went?
Officer
Moore: Just as I drawed on that diagram, I went straight over to
McCauley. [snip, he describes encountering Mark Byers.]
Price: Ok and
then - according to the radio log, it indicates that you - it has -
received call 9:42 and then it has that, I guess the information on
call or broadcast and then it mentions that you went to the - this area
on Goodwin, attempting to locate the juveniles. And then there's a -
under the column - in service 10:10, would that be when you would have
left -
Officer
Moore: Yes sir.
Price: - That
area, ok. So, approximately from the 9:42 to about 10:10, that's the
time you spent looking in the woods in that area?
Officer
Moore: Yes sir. [ibid]
Other than Mark Byers, he didn't see any others
searching.
Fogleman: Ok, during the brief
time that you assisted in the search, were there other people out
searching? Or did you see other people?
Moore: They
were there, but I didn't see anyone out searching, except me and Mr.
Byers at that time. [ibid]
Meek's Testimony, Echols/Baldwin Trial.
Between the time of the two trials, the police dispatch
logs for the evening of the fifth of May were made available. They
were
stamped as received by the prosecution on February 8, 1994. These
logs allowed the defense at the second trial to more aggressively
pursue Meek's version of events that evening and her role in the
Bojangles incident. Meek's testimony in the Echols/Baldwin trial was
approximately nine times the length of her testimony in the previous
trial.
Reviewing her testimony, step by step, first she
testifies to taking the reports from the Byers and Moore households
repeating times on the missing persons' reports and her previous
testimony.
Meek: That's the offense report
that I filled out on Christopher Byers as being missing juvenile and I
arrived at 8:10 p.m.
Fogleman: Ok.
Alright, and--and after taking that information in regards to Chris
Byers, what did you do?
Meek: Ok.
While I was there, I was advised by Mrs. Moore--she came by the
residence and told me that her son was missing too and that she had
seen three boys going down 14th street.
Fogleman: Did
you take an official report from Mrs. Moore at that time?
Meek: No sir,
I did not. I was in the process of taking the Byers report. She left to
go look for the children. And then I caught up with her later on to
take a report from her.
Fogleman:
Alright. Do you know about when that was?
Meek: It
would be on the reports. 9--after 9:00, I believe.
Fogleman: And
do you recognize this document?
Meek: Yes
sir, that's the offense report for Michael Moore and it showed my
arrival--9:24pm. [Meek testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial]
Then she describes her initial search after taking the Byers report.
Fogleman: Now after you took
the report at the Byers residence and after you left that residence,
what did you do?
Meek: I rode
the
neighborhood and started looking for the boys myself. There were
suppose to be two--three boys on two bicycles, is what I was told and I
was given a description of the boys. So I was checking the area to see
if I could locate 'em.
Fogleman: And
what areas did you search?
Meek: Ok. I
searched the neighborhood area around them and I asked
several people that were standing out if they saw 'em. [snip]
Meek: The residence I was at is
here, at 14th and Barton. I searched this area here, searched over
here, came over to--that's W.E. Catt, starting again over to Barton,
and I even been looking over in here, I was searching these
neighborhoods here initially. After I took the report from the--Mrs.
Moore--I was able to check a little further. I started checking empty
houses in the neighborhoods, and I started going to this wooded
area. I got over to the pipe and I went ahead and stopped. I didn't
believe that three eight year old boys are gonna be out there that time
of the night 'cause the mosquitos.
Fogleman:
About what time was it when you went to the area where the pipe is at
the dead end of McAuley?
Meek: Uh--it
was probably--it was shortly--right after I took the report from Mrs.
Moore, so it was right around 9:30. A little after maybe.
Fogleman: Ok.
Meek: Or
right before. [snip - she explains the mosquitos were so bad, that she
didn't think the lost children would be in the woods.]
Meek: So, I just stopped searching the wooded area at that time and
went to houses.
Fogleman: Approximately how long did you search?
Meek: Except for one call I believe I got called away from my
search--until after quitting time. [ibid]
Although she spoke of one other call, the dispatch log
presented four additional calls. Under cross-examination and presented
with the dispatch sheets, she gave more details.
[Echols attorney] Scott
Davidson: From there [the Byers household], you leave and you go out
looking on your own.
Meek: Yes sir.
Davidson: How
long did you go out and look on your own?
Meek: Several
minutes, I received a call somewhere in there--I'm not sure of the
exact time on that, but I was called away for a few minutes and then I
went back. [ibid]
The call she was referring to took her to the Bojangles
restaurant on Missouri Street. The following is cut from her
testimony to give the basic narration.
Meek: I was between
14th and McAuley on Barton when I received the call and I was sent over
to Missouri Street. [snip] I went Barton across 7th Street to Glen
Bailey--Glen Bailey to Missouri Street and made a right. [snip] ...call
came in at 8:40, I was dispatched at 8:42 and arrived on scene at 8:50.
[snip] I went through the
drive-thru and spoke to empolyee-ment--made contact with an employee.
When a person's bleeding out, I make the quickest route to make
contact--try to locate the person. [snip] The employee to me that
he saw him walking toward Delta Express, which is just south of
Bojangles and I went toward that direction and started looking for
that man. I looked behind the businesses and a little field back there,
checking for the subject. [snip, then in answer to how long she
searched for the Bojangles man] I couldn't recall exact minutes. It
might be on there--I broadcasted it over the radio, what further
information I had obtained and--I'm not sure if it was put on the log
sheet but another officer came to the area also helping me look. We
weren't able to find anything--any evidence of the person. [ibid]
She was soon called away from her search.
Davidson: Does it show an entry
for you--for 256, at 9:00?
Meek: Yes sir.
Davidson: And
what entry is that and where did you go? Did you respond to
another
call?
Meek: Yes
sir. 1004 Roy Pugh for egged house, it's a criminal mischief complaint.
[ibid]
Baldwin's attorney, Robin Wadley, delved more in to her
search efforts.
Wadley: You stayed there
[Byers' house] and then you began to do a search, is that correct?
Meek: Yes
sir. I started checking the area.
Wadley: Tell
me what--tell me what you did, where did you first go?
Meek: I
checked the immediate area, the residential--it's all residential area
there. I started checking the different side streets and driving
through seeing if I could see a couple bicycles laying in the yard or
something. [snip]
Wadley: I would like to get
this in some type of order if I can. You leave the [Byers'] house, and
you do your search of the area. Where do you first go?
Meek: I went
in the same direction as the boys did I believe. When I left there, I
went north on 14th Street.
Wadley: Ok.
And you were told that was the direction they went in?
Meek: Yes sir.
Wadley: Who
told you that?
Meek: Mrs.
Moore.
Wadley: Ok.
And were you in your patrol car at that time?
Meek: Yes
sir, I was.
Wadley: Ok.
Then what did you do next?
Meek:
Um--searched the area until I received another call I believe.
Wadley: What
I'm asking you Patrolman, were you in your car during this time?
Meek: Most of
the time, yes sir. Most of my search was from my patrol car.
Wadley: Ok.
Tell me the time that you were out of your car, specifically where were
you and what are you doing.
Meek: I could
not name all the houses I stopped at. There was several in the
neighborhoods that I stopped at. [ibid]
Meek also recalled the people she encountered. In
contrast to Officer Moore's testimony, she saw "lots of people out"
searching.
Meek: Later on, I spoke to a
couple of boys. One of them was related to one of the victims.
Wadley: Who
did you speak to?
Meek: I don't
remember his name. It was his brother, Byers.
Wadley: About
what time did you speak to that person?
Meek:
Couldn't recall what time it was, they helped me search some of the
empty houses.
Wadley: Where
did you speak to him?
Meek: On
Goodwin. I think it was around McAuley and Goodwin.
Wadley: Who
else did you talk to?
Meek: Had a
friend of his that was there and two young men--I'd say in their late
teens-early twenties. [from later testimony she believed this took
place after going to Bojangles. snip]
Wadley: And after you made this
broadcast, until you quit searching did you talk to any other law
enforcement officials concerning their search of the--
Meek: Ok. I spoke to Officer
John Moore, which is on patrol with our department, and I spoke to--I
believe it was Lieutenant Joplin, briefly to let him know what was
going on --that I was looking for three boys. [snip]
Meek: I saw four adults--I
believe it was four adults, uh--off of Goodwin just west of 14th
Street. There's a little dead end there, it was originally gonna be a
street--they didn't get to finish it. Which would be one end of Robin
Hood Park. I saw two or three vehicles parked there and I saw some
adults there. The neighborhood--you've got to understand when you
have three boys missing, the neighborhood's buzzing--there's lots of
people out. [ibid]
Adding in the police dispatch log times and her testimony
at the second trial we have a more detailed picture of her evening.
- 7:49
pm. Sunset.
- 8:08
pm. Call dispatched to Meek: "1400
E. Barton [Byers residence] - missing juvenile." [dispatch log]
- 8:08
- 8:29
pm. (8:08) On scene Byers residence, taking missing person report.
Time on
report, 8:10. (8:29) Back in service.
- 8:29 -
8:42 pm. Initial search for children. "When I left there, I went north
on 14th Street / I rode the neighborhood / asked several people that
were standing out if they saw 'em / [referring to map] I searched this
area here, searched over here, came over to--that's W.E. Catt, starting
again over to Barton, and I even been looking over in here / I checked
the immediate area, the residential--it's all residential area there. I
started checking the different side streets and driving through seeing
if I could see a couple bicycles laying in the yard or something." "I
could not name all the houses I stopped at."
- 8:42 -
8:50 pm. In transit to Bojangles. (8:42) Call dispatched to Meek:
"Bonjangles - black male - towards Delta - bleeding." "I was between
14th and McAuley on Barton when I received the call and I was sent over
to Missouri Street. [snip] I went Barton across 7th Street to Glen
Bailey--Glen Bailey to Missouri Street and made a right." (8:50) on
scene.
- 8:44 -
8:45 pm. Call from Meek: "20th IL - 397501." From testimony,
calling in an Illinois license plate.
- 8:50 -
9:00 pm. (8:50) On scene at Bojangles. Takes information from manager
at drive-thru window. "[The manager told her] that he saw him walking
toward Delta Express, which is just south of Bojangles and I went
toward that direction and started looking for that man. I looked behind
the businesses and a little field back there, checking for the
subject." A second officer appears helping her to look [from dispatch
log, Captain Hendrix]. (9:00) Back in service.
- "After
I couldn't find anybody at Bojangles, I went back to the area where the
boys were." [Echols/Baldwin trial]
- 9:01 -
9:18 pm. (9:01) received dispatch regarding egging incident, 1004 Roy
Pugh. (9:04) on scene. (9:18) Back in service.
- 9:24 pm. Time of statement
taken from
Dana Moore at her house, 1398 E. Barton. Not in the police log.
Uncertain how long this statement took.
- 9:25
pm. Time of Steve Branch report at Catfish Island, Officer Meek listed
as reporting officer.
- 9:30 pm. "Right around 9:30,"
"a little after maybe," "or right before." After the report was taken
from
Mrs. Moore, Meek went down to the pipe at the dead end
of
McAuley. Meek described this as taking place when it was "turning dark"
and "well on the way to dark" in the Misskelley trial. She spent "three
or four minutes" there.
- "[After
going to the pipe] I turned around and went back to my vehicle and
decided to start checking buildings and other areas." [Misskelley
trial]
- Uncertain,
but seemingly in this time period possibly referring to the previous
entry, a couple of boys including Ryan Clark helped Meek search
empty houses and the ditch behind the Moores residence.
- Uncertain,
but seemingly in this time period, spoke to four adults at the entrance
to Robin Hood near Goodwin.
- 9:34 pm. Call dispatched to
Meek. "1101 N. Ingram - truck liquor
business"
- 9:37 -
9:44 pm. (9:37) On scene at truck liquor business. (9:44) Back in
service.
- 10:28 pm. Call dispatched to
Meek. "500 bl Parkway - loud
music." No
on scene time. (10:30) Back in service.
- 11:15 -
11:20 pm. Finished searching.
Note: Her
statements in the Pasdar deposition (described below) make the above
timeline even more complicated.

Officer
Meek, testifying. Now a Lieutenant with the West Memphis Police.
Meek's Actions as Described in
the Testimony and Statements of Others
Meek recounted taking reports from Mark and
Melissa Byers and from Dana Moore. She described encounters with
several others that evening including Ryan Clark, the manager from
Bojangles, along with unidentified individuals.
Mark and Melissa Byers' recollections matched those of
Officer Meek regarding their missing person's report.
Fogleman:
Did an officer come out and take a report?
Melissa Byers: Yes.
Fogleman: What time was
that, approximately?
Melissa Byers: Right
around eight o’clock. It was getting dark.
Fogleman: After the
report was made, what did y’all do?
Melissa Byers: During the
time the report was made Dana Moore came over and she said - -
Fogleman: She lives
across the street?
Melissa Byers: She lives
across the street from me. She said, "They are together. I saw them
together earlier," and she said, "They are all three together wherever
they are at." [Melissa Byers testimony, Misskelley trial]
Mark
Byers: I called both the sheriff's department or the police department
around 8:00 P.M. I made a formal missing person's report. Officer
Regina Meek came out to the house to talk with me. Her police report
has 8:10 p.m. written on it, but it was a few minutes after that before
she left. She arrived a few minutes before 8:10 p.m. As Meeks was
starting to leave, Ms. Moore, our neighbor across the street, knocked
on our door and talked to us. [Mark Byers testimony abstract,
Echols/Baldwin trial]
Mark
Byers: Well, Regina Weeks (sic) showed up just a few minutes later,
came in
and I told her when I last saw him which was 5:30 under the carport
before I come up here to get Ryan. And told her what he was wearing
and then she did her mic you know and put it out. I guess over the
air
what he was wearing and where he was last and all. Well she said, I'm
going to get out in my car and I'll start riding and looking and we'll
be looking in the neighborhood for your son. Well as I start to let her
out, Dana Moore's knocking on the door from across the street. She
said, have y'all found Christopher? And we said, no, we're looking for
him, and she said, well, he's with Michael and Stevie. Well, that's the
first time that my wife and I knew that he was with anybody else. [Mark
Byers statement, May 19, 1993]
Melissa Byers described encountering Meek again near the time of
her shift change.
Davidson:
Did you talk with her anymore that evening?
Melissa Byers: Yes sir,
seems like she came back by the house.
Davidson: And what time
did she come back by the house?
Melissa Byers: Um - seems
like it was around - she said that her shift was fixing to change. So,
she came back by the house - she had been driving around the area.
Davidson: Ok.
Melissa Byers: Looking.
And she came back by the house and - to tell us that she was going off
duty, her shift was changing - you know, and to - you know, that there
would be another officer taking over. [Melissa Byers testimony,
Echols/Baldwin trial]
Dana Moore also basically
agreed with Meek's account, although she gives a different reason why
Meek did not immediately take a statement.
Fogleman:
Did you later have some contact with a police officer?
Dana Moore: Yes, sir.
Fogleman: When was that
the first time?
Dana Moore: About eight,
eight-ten.
Fogleman: Where did you
have contact with that officer?
Dana Moore: At Mark
Byers’ house. [snip]
Fogleman: Did you
subsequently do an official report?
Dana Moore: Yes, sir.
Fogleman: Was that later?
Dana Moore: Yes, sir.
Fogleman: Why was it
later?
Dana Moore: The officer
told me that she knew what Michael looked like and she knew - - I had
stated that they all three were together so she knew that they were
together and she would probably come back and give me a police report
if they haven't found them yet.
[Dana Moore testimony, Misskelley trial]
The manager of Bojangles recounted Meek's appearance
there.
Davidson: And do you recall what officer
came?
Marty King: It was a female
officer for the West Memphis Police Department. And uh - she pulled on
the lot, and I saw her coming so I went to the front door. Well, she
kept coming around - she went to the drive-through window. [King
testimony, Echols/Baldwin trial]
Pamela Hobbs confirmed the story about giving her
statement to an officer at her work.
Fogleman:
When was it that you first found that Stevie was missing?
Pamela Hobbs: At 9:25.
Fogleman: How did you
discover that?
Pamela Hobbs: My husband
come to pick me up from work and went and called the police.
Fogleman: Did you make a
report to the officer?
Pamela Hobbs: Um-hum.
[Pamela Hobbs, Misskelley trial]
Fogleman:
After you found out at uh - 9:20 or so that he was missing, did you
make a formal report to the police?
Pamela Hobbs: Yes, we
did. [Pamela Hobbs, Echols/Baldwin trial]
In her Dimensions Film Interview, Pam added this:
Pamela
Hobbs: A police officer came to (Catfish Island) where I worked, and
took a report, went out to the wooded area (with us) -- and I think
(Gina Baker) was there. And those were the last two police officers I
seen all night. [Dimensions Film Interview, Pamela and Terry Hobbs]
The parentheses are from the original and represent
uncertainties by the transcriber. "Gina Baker" is probably Regenia Meek
- in the next sentence Pamela Hobbs made clear that she was referring
to a police officer.
Ryan Clark did not mention an encounter with Officer
Meek.
Terry Hobbs described encountering Officer Meek and
accompanying her as they searched the Robin Hood Woods.
I
know when the police were called Regina come out and she went (in?) the
woods a little ways and we turned around and come back out cause it was
hot it was muggy and it was growed up and it was full of mosquito's and
everybody was gittin mosquito bit and so everybody was (not audible)
coming to shift changes and Regina told us that she was going to pass
it on down... [Terry Hobbs police interview, June 21, 2007]
He thought he may have given the report to Officer Meek,
but he couldn't remember.
Davis: Officer
Moore was the person that you made the police report to, I believe.
Terry Hobbs: We -- I
think we talked to Regina Meeks.
Davis: Well, Regina ---
Terry Hobbs: Seems
like I remember Officer Moore's name, but I don't recall. [Terry
Hobbs
deposition, Hobbs vs. Pasdar]
In her testimony, Meek did not mention encountering Terry
Hobbs. In her later deposition, she stated she did not search the woods
that night and did not recall ever seeing Terry Hobbs, a dispute
reflected in the following exchange.
Davis:
You told the West Memphis Police that you searched the woods with
Regina Meek, and she said she never went in the woods; correct?
Terry Hobbs: Well, we
walked down inside the woods. [ibid]
Pam's Signature
Did Pamela Hobbs initial the missing person's report? The
initials on the bottom of her incident report differ markedly
from available signatures.
Pamela Hobbs initials on the
police report (l.) contrasted to a copy of her signature (r.).
Meek's Deposition.
On August 12, 2009,
Meek gave a deposition in the matter of Hobbs vs. Pasdar. Although
Terry Hobbs had described meeting with her as he went to search the
Robin Hood woods, Meek said she did not search the woods and did not
recall seeing Terry Hobbs that evening. Her
other recollections provide a yet another version of the events that
night and a very different perspective regarding her interactions with
Officer Moore. Beginning with the time she was taking the statement at
Byers' house.
Meek:
I called and asked for another officer to take an additional report.
[snip]
[Attorney for Pasdar] D'Lesli
Davis: Do you recall how it came down that another officer became
involved with the search for the three missing kids after you made the
call requesting another officer?
Meek: The officer came to where
I was at and I had Ms. Moore give directions to the third house, that
would be the Steve Branch house, and asked the officer that responded
to go over there and make contact and possibly take a report if that
child was missing. [snip]
Davis:
John Moore then actually came to the Byers' home and met you and Ms.
Moore --
Meek: Correct.
Davis: when he became involved?
Meek: Yes. [snip]
Davis: What do you recall about
your conversation with Officer Moore while you were there with Ms.
Moore?
Meek: I explained to him that I
was down here on one juvenile missing and I discovered there were three
juveniles missing. I was taking a report on two of them. I asked him to
go to the third residence [Hobbs/Branch] and make contact with the
parents and see if that child was missing and if that child was missing
if he could take a report. [snip]
Davis: What is your
understanding of what Officer Moore did after you and Ms. Moore gave
him the address of the residence where Stevie Branch lived?
Meek: I was finishing the
report for Ms. Moore when Officer Moore came back and said that the
mother was at work and that the stepfather was at home and that he
didn't know where his child was either. So I asked Officer Moore if he
would mind going to the mother's place of employment, which was I
believe Catfish Island, and take a report for the third child. And I
had already broadcast the information and descriptions of the two
children, but we needed further information for the third child. [snip]
Davis: What is your
understanding of what Officer Moore did after you discussed with him
that the mother was at work at Catfish Island?
Meek: He came back to the scene
where I was at and he explained he took the report from her and she was
extremely upset because she wasn't even aware that her son wasn't at
home. [Lt. Meek deposition, Hobbs vs. Pasdar]
Meek added a couple of other details to her search. She
mentioned talking with convenience store owners and she recalled
meeting with Mrs. Moore and Mrs. Byers in front of their homes before
heading back to the station at the end of her shift.