Twelve-year-old McKay Everett disappeared from his Texas home in September 1995. His father Carl returned from an Amway meeting to find the back door ajar and the telephone ringing. On the line, a woman with a raspy voice demanded $500,000.
Over the next week, the FBI played a game of cat-and-mouse with the kidnappers, who used inside information to stay one step ahead of the investigation.
Ultimately the FBI uncovered a series of crimes that started long before McKay was taken. Most shocking of all was the suspect. McKay had been betrayed by someone he trusted – a pillar of the community hiding a dark secret.
But decades later, McKay’s mother, Paulette, still isn’t satisfied with the official story. She doesn’t think everyone involved has been brought to justice.
Episode 1
The Phone Call
On September 12th, 1995 Carl Everett returned to his home in Conroe, Texas from an Amway meeting to find his back door propped open and his son McKay missing. Then the phone started to ring. On the line, a raspy-voiced woman demanded $500,000 if he ever wanted to see his son again.
Episode 2
Questioning Everything
After 12-year-old McKay Everett disappeared, McKay's father Carl fell under scrutiny. "Anytime there's a kidnapping or a domestic violence case … you look at the spouse first," says Guy Williams, who was Sheriff of Montgomery County, Texas back in 1995. "It's kind of like the person that finds a body. That's the person you look at first."
Episode 3
Uncle Hilty
The third suspect investigated by law enforcement was a family friend named Hilton Crawford, or as McKay knew him ‘Uncle Hilty.’ Hilton was on a list of people who knew about the Amway meeting — he was supposed to bring one of the employees of his security business to the meeting but hadn’t shown up. So the FBI drove out to interview him the following morning.
Episode 4
Finding McKay
The FBI gathers down the street from the kidnapper's home to make an arrest. But concerned he might barricade himself inside his home and transform the arrest into a shootout, they wait for him to leave for work, then speed in to apprehend him.
Episode 5
Hilton's Story
Late on the night of Saturday, September 16th, 1995 four days after kidnapping McKay, Hilton Crawford drew Sheriff Guy Williams a map. The directions led to an exit of the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge called Whiskey Bay, located between Lafayette and Baton Rouge Louisiana.
Episode 6
Gambler's Logic
Not much is known about Hilton's early childhood, but he described it to author Tannie Shannon as typical. “He had, as best I know, a perfectly normal, completely happy childhood,” said Tannie. “Played sports in school. Was very popular.”
Episode 7
The Elephant in the Room
In the aftermath of McKay Everett’s murder, his mother, Paulette, was devastated — and angry, too. "I wanted to make somebody pay," said Paulette. "I wanted to hurt somebody, I make no bones about that." Following the death of a loved one, said Dr. Katherine Shear, it's common to feel anger and guilt.
Episode 8
The Scream
The trial proper for Hilton Crawford began on July 8th, 1996. Hilton had been charged with capital murder – a charge reserved for the most heinous killings, which made Hilton eligible for the death penalty.
Episode 9
Endings
In February 2003, nearly seven years after Hilton Crawford received his death sentence, a letter arrived at Paulette's door from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, informing her about Hilton's upcoming execution.
Bonus Episodes
FBI agent Cindy Rosenthal worked on the McKay Everett case as both an FBI agent and a lawyer, as chief division counsel for the Houston office. She walks us through how the FBI decides to pull the trigger and arrest someone they suspect of involvement in a crime.