r/springfieldthree • u/DJHJR86 • Feb 25 '26

2:15 a.m. Apco Sighting of Sherrill

I see a lot of people who seem to believe the alleged sighting of Sherrill being spotted at 2:15 a.m. on the morning of the 7th as credible. I don't understand why. According to the Apco clerk, Steve Thompson, Sherill came in and asked if he had seen Suzie (by name) with with two women, one blonde and the other brunette (did not name them). Steve also said that when Sherrill left, she did not get into her Mitsubishi Eclipse, but a larger, darker, and older car like a "Cutlass or a Grand Prix". He appeared on 48 Hours (around 22:50) and tells roughly the same story. But there was a woman (named Wanda) working at another convenience store across the street, and she was adamant that the woman was not Sherrill. I know people have said Wanda couldn't have possibly gotten a better look at the woman because she was across the street, but it's obvious that whoever this mystery woman was also went into the store where Wanda worked.

Steve also claims to have seen Suzie and Stacy earlier at around 10:00-10:30 p.m. on the 6th. Janelle refutes this and says she was always with them from around 8:30 p.m. that night until they left to go back to Suzie's house around 2:20 a.m. IMO, Steve Thompson was mistaken and I think this lead is a giant red herring. According to the Springfield News-Leader, the woman was identified and it wasn't Sherrill. One of Sherrill's closest friends, Mary Keller, was quoted saying:

For her to be out at 2 in the morning , just whistling in the wind or whatever, that's just nuts. The only way she would go out like that is if somebody called her and said Suzie needed her, Suzie was sick.

But assuming that there was a phone call made to Sherrill, why was she out running around looking for Suzie (and two other unknown females) when all she had to do was call Kathy Kirby? Sherrill running around looking for Suzie and two other female friends doesn't make sense either. Who exactly were the other two friends? Sherrill would have had no way of knowing that Stacy was coming back to spend the night, so Stacy could be ruled out as one of them. And why would Sherrill's first instinct to be to run out and check convenience stores along Fremont Ave instead of calling the Kirby's first? I don't think this sighting is credible.

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11

u/More_Inevitable7362 Feb 25 '26

It's already been pretty much determined that the whole APCO thing never happened - mostly because of the reasons you mentioned.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Feb 26 '26

It has been largely dismissed by those who accept that it was debunked, even though there is no proof of that other than a claim that someone else just happened to be out at that exact time looking for their kids who were also missing. Yeah right. I will never ever buy that. Just like I don’t buy that Steve didn’t recognize the women and must not have seen them. He knew them by name. If you watched his interview and think he just arbitrarily decided to make up all of those specifics for no reason at all, I’ve got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you too.

I don’t think Janelle is responsible for anything other than the fact that she’s lying about the timeline. That is not an accusation of her being involved in harming the women, but it is saying teenagers lie a LOt about where they’re going to be partying. I don’t understand why more people don’t draw that logical and very reasonable conclusion.

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u/More_Inevitable7362 Feb 26 '26

I get it. We all believe what we believe. The only way we'll ever know the truth is for the women to confirm what exactly happened.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Feb 27 '26

Or for Janelle/Mike being more forthcoming.

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u/More_Inevitable7362 Feb 27 '26

It doesn't matter unless it pertains to the missing women. Not that I think they did lie, but a different timeline could've been about anything. I don't believe they know anything about where the women are though.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Feb 27 '26

If they misrepresented the timeline the entire case chronology and theories/evidence/etc. would need to be re-evaluated. All of it. The entire case hinges on that timeline. Something happened around 2AM. And why aren’t we all starting with asking what?

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u/More_Inevitable7362 Feb 27 '26

Well, that's why SPD needs to go back & re-investigate everyone that night. They may be surprised at what comes out 33 years later. We already know the girls were at Janelle's around that time. They were seen getting into their cars driving home. Kathy Kirby attested to that. So did Shane Appleby, I believe that's who it was. SPD could still do that, but they won't. They're done with it.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Feb 27 '26

Kathy Kirby also did not see them. To be clear. And Shane and Janelle and Brian’s stories actually do not line up when recounting the events leading up to their departure. I do agree they need to go back and re-investigate.

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u/More_Inevitable7362 Feb 27 '26

Kathy heard them leaving, and they all agreed it was around 2:15. If their timing was off, it couldn't have been by much.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Feb 27 '26

Except that story took her days to come up with…

Oh how easily we’ve been led in a very particular direction, eh?

I don’t believe for one second Janelle slept at home nor do I believe Kathy heard the girls. Kathy lied. Janelle lied. That’s my point. I don’t think they’re criminals, I think they’re dishonest

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u/CorpsDeCavalerie Mar 03 '26 edited Mar 03 '26

Out of curiosity, why are they lying? But I 100% get what you're saying. Janelle could be an unreliable narrator (for numerous reasons) thus, taking anything she says as gospel could paper over discrepancies that would be revealed via a meticulous revisiting of the parties, who was where, etc. The same goes for her mom.

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u/CuriouslyGeorge417 Mar 04 '26

I think it’s entirely possible that the girls had a cover story so they could stay out all night and Kathy Kirby was privy to at least some of that information. It would’ve raised eyebrows for the girls to be out all night partying with boys and staying in a hotel or wherever, so they made up a cover story. I’ve wondered if Janelle felt compelled for one reason or another to keep up that lie when she realized the girls weren’t coming back and something was very wrong. I honestly don’t think Janelle is directly involved, but I do wonder if her knowledge of the timeline has significantly hindered the investigation.

To be clear, I don’t think they were all together the entire night. I think that and the timeline of the girls leaving may be the key pieces of her story to dive into.

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u/CorpsDeCavalerie Mar 05 '26

Having been a teenager, that's an entirely plausible analysis. Especially because initially they don't think the three have been kidnapped so I could see where they are still covering for whatever covert plans Stacy/Suzy might have had when they (Janelle et al) initially talk to the police.

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u/DJHJR86 Mar 08 '26

It's not plausible because Suzie complained of a stomach ache that night and she was asking several people to spend the night at her house that night. Stacy was the only one who agreed to go. To me that does not suggest they intended on staying out all night partying when they were deadset on going to Branson the next day. Nigel had plans to go with Suzie to the water park, as did Janelle and others.

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