The Kidnapper's Wife

39. During

Eleanor Jane Abernathy

Part One of Recorded Interview

Date: Saturday, October 8, 2016

Duration: 33 Minutes

Location: Frederick County Sheriff's Office

No. of Pages: 5

Conducted by Officer Daniel Brown

Officer Brown: Thank you for coming down to the station Ms. Abernathy.

Eleanor Abernathy: Well Jade told us about the way you conducted yourselves with her on Thursday, and even though she advised me against speaking to you, I knew I had to come down here and give you a piece of my mind. Jade thinks I'm going to say something I shouldn't, something that will somehow incriminate her or our family, which is ridiculous since none of us knew anything about this, but anyway, I told her not to worry, this will not be a long interview. I -

Officer Brown: I apologize for interrupting Ms. Abernathy, but before we actually get started I have to make sure that you are aware that you are not under arrest and may leave at any time, and you also have the right to have an attorney present during this interview, if at any time you would like one, please just say so. Do you understand that?

Eleanor Abernathy: Yes.

Officer Brown: And with that said, anything that you do say here will be recorded and can be used as evidence in the future, should it be necessary. Understood?

Eleanor Abernathy: Yes.

Officer Brown: Excellent. Before we go on, I want to take a moment to clear the air with respect to your daughter. We do not at this time believe she has any involvement with Connor Carter's crimes. We are trying to help her out by ruling her out definitively as a suspect or person of interest. To that, we have to ask some hard questions, questions that none of us would like to have to address. But these questions have to be asked, in order to cover every possible scenario. Ms. Abernathy, a young girl has been taken, likely across state lines, by a man twice her age. Her family is terrified, and the community is horrified. We want to provide them with answers, and hopefully, with Anna. The only way to do that is to mount an aggressive front towards the perpetrator. And unfortunately, to do that, we have to hold up that persistence with anyone and anything in association with the perpetrator. That is how we pull the truth out of the noise of the case. Crimes, Ms. Abernathy, are offensive. They offend the victim, the victim's family, the public at large. And so in a way it makes sense that the investigation of crimes can also sometimes be offensive. We try to limit that, but sometimes, it's more important to get to the truth than to protect someone's feelings. And in that case, we have to choose the truth. Does that make sense?

Eleanor Abernathy: I - I suppose it does in a way.

Officer Brown: Excellent. Then I hope you will accept my apologies for anything offensive that was said to your daughter, with the understanding that we hold no grudges against anyone but the perpetrator of this crime, who we do not, at this time, believe to be Jade.

Eleanor Abernathy: Well, yes I accept your apology.

Officer Brown: Thank you. Now, there are just a few things that we would really appreciate if you would help clarify for us. To start with, just to get some background on where you stand, did your daughter or Connor ever speak with you about Anna Harris at all?