The Disappeared Read online

  Founded in 1999 by Kate Shelford-Longden and her husband, Richard Cheetham, Athena has become one of the top-grossing PR firms in the UK with over £35m turnover and the only one headed by a woman. Cheetham left the firm in 2003.

  According to the company mission statement posted on the Internet, Athena was named for the Greek goddess of “reason, intelligent activity, arts, and literature.”

  Most British readers know of Kate Shelford-Longden through her popular Instagram feed and for representing the notorious young bloods of football and reality TV. Rumours have arisen that her involvement with some of “her” footballers has not been strictly professional.

  Photos posted to her Instagram account the previous week showed Shelford-Longden enjoying her stay at an exclusive ranch located in Wyoming. According to the spokesman from the Silver Creek Ranch, where she spent her holiday, Shelford-Longden departed the ranch on July 30 as scheduled. Airline personnel confirmed that she failed to arrive at Denver International Airport later that day for check-in.

  “We’re devastated,” said Silver Creek Ranch General Manager Mark Gordon. “We treasure all of our guests and Kate was really special. We hope and pray that there is an innocent explanation for why she never got home.”

  Kate Shelford-Longden’s ex-husband, Richard, said, “Kate has always been a free spirit and she’s always been adventurous. Maybe this time the adventure caught up with her.”

  Local law enforcement in Saratoga, Wyoming, is investigating the disappearance...

  Joe thought the quote from Richard Cheetham was less than sentimental and a little snarky. Under a category he titled “Suspects,” he wrote down the man’s name.

  There were several photos of Shelford-Longden to accompany the story. The best one of her was from a press conference for the launch of a new nonprofit initiative to assist the children of immigrants to the UK, according to the caption. In the photo, Kate stood onstage with a massive screen behind her. She wore a slim wireless headset with a microphone bent under her chin.

  Kate was tall and angular with shoulder-length blond hair that was swept back and stylish. She had blue eyes, high cheekbones, blood-red lipstick, and an open expression on her face. She wore a black pantsuit with heels and a single strand of pearls.

  Other photos were more recent and credited to her Instagram account: Kate celebrating with “footballers” in a tent; Kate at Silver Creek Ranch wearing a touristy cowboy hat, on a horse with a big smile on her face; Kate cautiously holding up a small brook trout with a beaming guide over her shoulder; Kate aiming an over-and-under shotgun while wearing ear protection and safety glasses; Kate lounging in an Adirondack chair, hoisting a cocktail toward the camera in the golden light of dusk outside a stone-and-log lodge that Joe assumed was part of Silver Creek Ranch. The quality of light was familiar to Joe. It was Wyoming light.

  He read on. Most of the stories were similar to the piece in the Daily Mail, with just enough differences not to be plagiarism, he thought. There was very little new information, other than quotes from Athena staffers saying they were getting more worried by the day that no one had heard from her.

  A small feature in the Telegraph had a sidebar on the Silver Creek Ranch itself, with a scenic photo of a trail ride going into the mountains that had apparently been taken from the ranch website.

  Silver Creek Ranch in Wyoming is one of many ranch resorts in America and Canada that have seen a surge in British visitation in recent years, according to Malcolm Harris of RanchAmerica, a tour operator specializing in ranch holidays.

  “Ranch vacations have become a very rewarding and exclusive kind of holiday,” Harris said. “We’re booking more and more Brits to them every year—especially successful businesswomen. Ranch holidays offer relaxation, comfort, and an all-inclusive holiday that really appeals to certain people.”

  According to Harris, Silver Creek Ranch is the most exclusive and luxurious “ranch” in America, featuring stays that cost upwards of £1,200 per night...

  There were scores of dude and guest ranches in the state, Joe knew, as well as in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, and other Western states. In fact, the first-ever “dude” ranch had been established in the Bighorn Mountains less than an hour away.

  He knew dude ranches were of three varieties: working, traditional, and ranch resort. Each was as different from the other as its management and ownership.

  Guests on working ranches paid to do actual ranch chores such as branding and moving cattle, fixing fences, and clearing brush. They slept in bunkhouses and ate with the ranch family. Joe knew several working ranch owners who marveled at the fact that there were people who would actually pay them to do the work they had always paid laborers for.

  Traditional dude ranches featured daily horseback rides, hearty food, fishing, a “night on the town,” and campfire sing-alongs. They generally operated on a Sunday to Sunday basis with new guests—mainly entire families—arriving every week. The dude ranches tended to schedule different activities every day. Some featured children’s programs. Most of the guest ranches in the region used this model.

  Ranch resorts offered everything traditional dude ranches offered, plus an increasing number of amenities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, gourmet food, and a high level of service.

  The Silver Creek Ranch, from what Joe could surmise, was a ranch resort in a category of one.

  *

  AS HE WENT through the pile, the stories got shorter and became a variant on NO NEW LEADS IN KATE DISAPPEARANCE–type headlines. The same photos were featured time and time again. Side stories began to appear, such as ATHENA CONTEMPLATES FUTURE WITHOUT MISSING DIRECTOR.

  The exception to the NO NEW LEADS pieces was a series of articles in the Daily Dispatch written by a journalist named Billy Bloodworth. He seemed to have the inside track on all things Kate, and to relish it.

  His pieces were accompanied by more personal photos of Kate than had appeared in the other newspapers. In them, Kate was shown celebrating her recent birthday at home, attending a wedding, and sailing—which suggested an inside source to Joe. The Bloodworth articles dove more deeply into potential motives for her disappearance. He was also the first to refer to her as Cowgirl Kate.

  Although the headlines were provocative, the bulk of the stories themselves were primarily speculation. Each featured “experts” who, in Joe’s opinion, were named only to bolster Billy Bloodworth’s narrative in each story. They included:

  FROM INSTAGRAM TO INSTA-GONE!

  DID COWGIRL KATE’S JET-SETTING

  LIFESTYLE LEAD TO HER DOOM?

  ...Since gaining prominence as managing director for one of the country’s fastest-growing public relations firms, Kate Shelford-Longden’s taste for unaccompanied exotic and expensive holidays abroad brought her into contact with hundreds of like-minded lovers of luxury. Did Cowgirl Kate meet someone at Silver Creek Ranch in America who saw an opportunity to do her harm?

  “No one likes to think about it, because no one wants to ruin their holiday, but choosing an ostentatious resort and Instagramming your every activity also puts a target on the back of a wealthy person,” said Miles Drood, an executive at a London private security firm...

  COWGIRL KATE: “SHE HAD ENEMIES,” SAYS RIVAL

  Kate Shelford-Longden’s rise from obscurity to one of Britain’s most high-profile female executives may have created enemies along the way, according to a rival public relations executive who frequently tangled with her.

  “When it came to acquiring new accounts or fighting for existing clients, Kate quite frequently had her claws out,” said the executive, who asked to remain anonymous for this exclusive Daily Dispatch article. “I hope it doesn’t sound sexist, but Kate would scratch your eyes out if she had her heart set on a new acquisition. She was known as a fierce competitor in the industry.”

  The executive went on to state that he wasn’t suggesting that her recent disappearance was directly associated with the enemies she’s made in the hi
ghly competitive industry...

  “SOMETHING HAPPENED” AFTER COWGIRL KATE’S RANCH DEPARTURE, SAYS OFFICIAL

  “Something happened” to Athena über-boss “Cowgirl” Kate Shelford-Longden in America between the time she left the American luxury ranch resort and her non-arrival at Denver International Airport for a flight home, said a high-level staffer within the Foreign Office.

  “She left the resort in a car she’d hired on the day of departure and she had to drive four and a half hours to the Denver Airport, through the wilderness, to turn the car back in and check in for her flight,” the anonymous staffer-in-the-know told the Daily Dispatch. “This is a huge expanse of wild country,” he said. “There are thousands of square miles of woods containing grizzly bears, mountain lions, and other predators.”

  The staffer pointed out that there were perhaps human predators as well.

  “Let’s not forget this happened in America, in the West,” he said. “Everyone there has guns.”

  He confirmed that Cowgirl Kate wasn’t involved in any traffic altercations en route to Denver and that her car hasn’t been recovered.

  “You can draw your own conclusions...”

  Joe rolled his eyes and thought that Billy Bloodworth was running out of angles on the story to have written that one. It was true that “Everyone there has guns,” but...

  COWGIRL KATE’S SISTER: “SOMEONE HAS HER”

  Sophie Shelford-Longden, the fashionable younger sister of missing PR boss Kate Shelford-Longden, thinks Cowgirl Kate was abducted and is being held against her will.

  In an exclusive interview with the Daily Dispatch, Sophie said the investigation into her sister’s disappearance has been inadequate and she blames both Foreign Office officials as well as American law enforcement efforts. Kate went missing after leaving a super-exclusive holiday compound in the state of Wyoming en route to the Denver Airport. No trace of her or of her hired car has been found to date.

  “Kate didn’t just vanish off the face of the earth on July 30 after she was done with her holiday,” sophisticated Sophie says. “I just know in my heart that some backwoods redneck from the American outback is holding her captive. I have dreams where I can see her there in a small dark place with woods all around. It’s like she’s reaching out to me to let me know she’s alive.”

  Sophie Shelford-Longden said there have been no ransom demands for the return of her sister.

  “I seriously doubt that the troglodyte who has my sister even knows how to get in touch with us,” she said. “And I doubt he has any idea who he’s messing with. Kate is a fighter. Kate is a hero. And I’m not standing by idly myself. It’s important that I have a voice in this.”

  Sophie said that despite daily calls to the authorities there have been no leads on her sister’s disappearance since it happened.

  “Maybe I’ll go over there and find her myself!” fetching Sophie declared.

  Accompanying the article was a photo of a woman who resembled Kate, except with red hair and a few extra pounds. In the picture, Sophie sat in a chair gazing plaintively out the window and clutching a framed photo of her sister. Joe thought the photo looked very staged.

  Following the article was a boxed feature that got Joe’s attention. It read:

  NEXT WEEK: WHERE COWGIRL KATE DISAPPEARED

  DAILY DISPATCH JOURNALIST BILLY BLOODWORTH ACCOMPANIES KATE’S SISTER, SOPHIE, TO AMERICA TO INVESTIGATE THE DISAPPEARANCE.

  Joe checked the date. The item had appeared ten days before, which meant there was a very real possibility that Sophie and Billy Bloodworth were in Saratoga at the moment.

  He flipped through the photos. Most of them were reproductions of what he’d already seen in the British press. There were a few shots of Silver Creek Ranch that looked like they’d been taken by a cell phone. The resort was sprawling and spectacular, with that huge central lodge of logs and stone that Joe had noted in the photo of Kate having cocktails.

  The letters-and-correspondence stack wasn’t revelatory, either. Most of the letters were reproductions of official-looking letterhead stationery from the British Embassy to Governor Allen, asking for his support and assistance in the case. The only exception was a plea via email from Sophie Shelford-Longden sent to the email address that appeared on Governor Allen’s web page.

  Honourable Governor Colter Allen:

  I am Sophie Shelford-Longden writing to you from England. If the name sounds familiar to you, that is because my sister, Kate, disappeared in your state this past summer after going on holiday there.

  I’ve heard from the authorities that they’ve been in touch with your office regarding this case, but I thought it important that you hear directly from a member of Kate’s family. It has been months since we’ve heard anything at all.

  Quite frankly, we’re gutted. Kate was my older sister and only sibling. Our parents are distraught and barely able to function. This tragic situation is quite personal to us.

  Although I’m a British citizen, and not a Wyomingan, I do implore you to please do all you can to find my sister, Kate. I miss her. We miss her. She has to be there somewhere.

  Please help us.

  Joe swallowed hard and put the email down. It got him. Kate was a real person, not just a case. She had a sister and parents. He wondered if the email had moved Governor Allen as it had him, even though Sophie had called Wyomingites “Wyomingans” as well as rednecks and troglodytes.

  *

  HE SCANNED THE STATEMENTS and transcribed interviews included in the file. The information was brief and more a series of notes than a full-blown report.

  Mark Gordon, the general manager of Silver Creek Ranch, said that the last time anyone on the ranch had seen Kate was when she stopped by the main lodge to say good-bye to the staff on her last day:

  Asked about her state of mind when she left, Gordon said she was sad about leaving. She told the staff she’d had just the greatest time. She said she planned to come back to the resort the next year if she could. Gordon said it wasn’t unusual for guests to be sad when they left and that KSL’s demeanor was normal. He said KSL made no mention of making any stops between the ranch and the Denver Airport and that she was giving herself six and a half hours to get there (four and a half driving, two hours to check in for her flight home). According to KSL’s registration doc (and confirmed with Hertz car rental in Denver), she was driving a metallic-silver 2017 Jeep Cherokee with Colorado rental plates AFR6967.

  Carbon County Attorney Chia Schwartz told investigators that when her office was notified of Kate’s failure to arrive in the UK an APB had been put out in both southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, for the vehicle and any sighting of Kate. She said there had been several tips, but none that had proved worthwhile.

  Staff members of the Silver Creek Ranch had been interviewed. Joe could tell by the very brief notes that the agents had focused on two things: relationships good and bad that Kate may have had during her stay, and her state of mind when she left.

  The employees interviewed all said Kate had been friendly with everyone and well-liked by the staff and other guests, and they were unaware of any problems. She’d spent most of her days riding horses in the indoor arena, the outdoor arena, and on trails.

  A ranch wrangler named Lance Ramsey said Kate was extremely enthusiastic about horses and a fast learner. Ramsey said the only time he’d heard Kate complain was when the day was over and she could no longer ride. He was aware of no close relationships Kate may have had with either guests or staff, nor any conflicts.

  Joe sat back, closed his eyes, and mentally reviewed everything he’d just read. He was looking forward to turning the file over to Marybeth that night at home to see if she could find something interesting or unusual that he’d missed.

  Nothing came to him. When he opened his eyes he saw two DOT crew standing outside in the hallway in orange coveralls. They were looking in at him on their way to climb into their snowplows. For all they knew, they’d caught him napping.
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  They shook their heads as they continued down the hall.

  He sighed.

  It was then that he read the incident report to see what theories the DCI had been pursuing before they’d been yanked off the case by Governor Allen.

  The incident report was simply a clinical summation of everything he’d already read and looked at. Joe was disappointed. There were no leads to follow or angles to pursue.

  Kate had come to Wyoming on a ranch holiday and left after a week for the Denver Airport. She’d never shown up. There were no suspects.

  But something made his antennae go up. He reread the report. He’d seen DCI reports before, as well as incident reports filed by agency investigators. This one was too clean, he thought. There wasn’t a single word of speculation and no summary of the investigation. It was the kind of report written by bureaucrats intending to cover themselves.

  From whom? he wondered.

  He flipped again to the last page to see that the report had been compiled and signed by DCI Agent Michael Williams in Cheyenne.

  Joe booted up his computer and found Williams’s contact information on the state of Wyoming website. He debated to himself whether to fire off an email or call the man direct.

  Call, Joe thought. Emails could be ignored for weeks. It usually worked best to catch a man unaware.

  He was reaching for his handset when his cell phone burred in his uniform breast pocket. No one usually called during the dead of winter except Marybeth. The other seasons, it could be a landowner, hunter, or fisherman.

  The screen said NATE, and Joe arched his eyebrows. Nate Romanowski’s name had come up just that morning from Hanlon and here he was. Nate had that quality about him.

  “Nate,” Joe said.

  “Hey.”

  Nate’s voice was low and whispery when he talked on the phone. It generally had a sarcastic edge to it.