Chapter 8 part 1: On The Move

And then when I found out he told Johnny the same thing. It just made me think, wherever this happened is. I always thought, wherever that story and if it was any truth to that story at all, where would happen is where they would find Bethany. That's what I always had in my mind, and I told to tb I that exact thing that I thought that story had something to do with Betaning. Welcome back to season two of Missing in Hushtown, Bethany Markowski. I'm your host, Jules Thorpe, and this is chapter eight, Part one, on the Move. In chapter five, we referenced a story we were told by several people, a story that both Larry mccowski and his former friend Harold Roberts also told, but both men changed the name of the individual pulling the trigger to each other. I promised you that we were going to come back to it, and we are. In this chapter and in the next part of this chapter, part two, we're going to tell you more about the story and attempt to separate fact from fiction to the best of our ability. We're also going to attempt to piece together events from the months after Bethany disappeared, but this case is nothing if not full of truths, half truths, lies and deceptions. We've learned to listen to everyone, but trust no one to be transparent. At this point in the investigative process, we feel discouraged. We've not found Bethany, nor have we ever said that we would. But do we want to be able to find her? Yeah, Heliah, we have grown to have a personal investment in the search for her. We can honestly say that we feel love for this young girl that we spend countless hours searching for. And it's not just searching for her, it's searching for her truth, for her voice. It's trying to put little pieces together to form the bigger picture. And part of that picture can't be told without one missing piece, and that's Renee. We would like to introduce you all to a known mistress of Larry's, Renee, whom willingly participated in our podcast to not just help Bethany, but share vulnerable truths and regrets she's had about her life. Renee has been generous in her communication with us and has provided information about her time with Larry, whom she carried on an extra marital affair with for years. So let's bring her in and as always, let's have her start from the beginning. Thanks Night work. I've never met beth Me, I've only seen her one time. But me and Larry we got we have history together. And she wasn't kidding. They met back in the nineteen eighties when Larry was married to Sheila. Larry's mother, Juanita, and Renee's mother worked together at a local bar. One day, Renee walks in and Larry is sitting at the bar. Yeah, he was married when I met him, and I started seeing him anyway. And that was one of my big mistakes because every time Larry called on me, no matter whether we had split up or not been around each other for years, every time he would be pretty you know, obsessed, call on me until I answered and I ended up We ended up back together again. So I got I got married in ninety one a something like that. I got married, and I got two little kids, and we didn't see each other like ten or fifteen years until Bethanic Mission. Oh okay, there was he married to Sheila. Yes, okay, so you met when you first met him, he was married to. Sheila, and I am. We probably see each other for a couple of years. Yeah, how long did you and Larry have a relationship after you know, you first met off and on throughout the years when he was married Sheila too. We're trying to get the timelines here. The first first time in and were together, it was a year or maybe two. I finally I couldn't take it anymore, and I, you know, we called it off. And years later I think we seen each other on at the bar or something like that. But now I got back together, We got back on I got back on truck with him right after that and he disappeared. Okay, so what was he before we get into that part. What was your relationship like with Larry? What was what was it like between you two? Renee tells us that she genuinely loved Larry. In fact, she was in love with him for years, but he wouldn't leave his wife. She and Renee regrets ever thinking she wanted him to. Did Sheila know about you? Yes, she didn't know about you, yes, ma'am. We asked Renee if Larry had ever verbally or physically abused her, and she told us no. Never. She says that she recalls a time. When a young Jenny showed her bruises, and when Renee asked Larry about it, he denied it. She told us that Larry always denied everything. But she also goes on to tell us that she never once thought Larry could have harmed Bethany until as the years went on, things didn't add up to her. When Larry and Johnny get married, Renee doesn't have communication with Larry. She had also married and they went their separate ways. She tells us that she doesn't speak to him again until after her mother calls her. In two thousand and one, her mother friends with Larry's mother, Juanita, relays the news about Bethany's disappearance. Renee is now divorced and living in California with her sister. She's working at a bar and is dating someone new, But once her mom says Larry's name, Renee picks up the phone and calls him to check in on him. And it's this call that sparks the relationship once more. I do need to share that from here on out. The timelines, Renee tells us are not corroborated. They overlap, they mesh together. It's a little messy and it's a little unclear. Even Renee will tell you herself that the timelines are a bit rocky, as it was a long time ago and it was during a hard time in her life when she was making poor lifestyle choices. However, over the months of getting to know Renee, I do feel like we've been able to piece together a fairly cohesive timeline, and you'll see in a bit why I needed to point this out. So let's recap this timeline. By the way, you can find the timeline on our website, missing in hushtown dot com. And as a reminder, every episode we have has its own blog post with resources and photos for you to go and reference, so go check that out. Johnny and Bethany flee Larry in January of two thousand and one. A week later, Johnny is granted the order of protection against Larry, which happens to also be the same day that Larry finds Bethany at a new. School in Nashville. All of this the day before Bethany's eleventh birthday. Bethany was last seen March four, two thousand and one, during an unsupervised visit with Larry. Larry marries his current wife, Valerie Markowski. So when did Renee and Larry begin their tryst once more. At first, Renee tells us she believed it was six months to a year after Bethany went missing, which would mean that Larry was already remarried to Valerie at the time. I asked Renee if she knew about Valerie and Larry having a relationship while she was with Larry, and she tells me no, not at all. In fact, Renee's recollection is that she only discovered who Valerie was after the special agent also named Valerie. Valerie Trout, who was assigned to Bethany's case, told Renee that Larry was in a relationship, and that's when, according to Renee, the relationship ended once and for all. She wanted out and never wanted to be with him again. So let's back up a little bit. While we don't know the exact timeline of when Larry and Renee were back together, we do know this Larry's daughter goes missing in March. Three months later, Larry has remarried, and in the middle of that, he has also rekindled an affair with Renee, all while his daughter is freshly missing. Renee was later able to recall an event which helped us make this timeline a little more clear. Renee remembers that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation came to California in person to ask her about Larry. The TBI agents told Renee they had suspicions that Larry was planning to take Bethany to Mexico and was going to do so by way of Renee, who was near the California Mexico border. This is a claim that Renee veheminently denies. She says her son about the same age as Bethany, was the reason she'd never leave. She'd never do that to children. When trying to piece the timeline together, Renee recalled that the TBI came to talk to her around the time of her daughter's birthday August, which would mean that Larry was already married to Valerie. Now, it's not that we're doubting Renee. We want to go on record that we one hundred percent believed that she saw Larry after Bethany disappeared. But what we're not certain of is this timeline. And that's because well, neither is Renee. Confusion aside. Renee recalls Larry driving his long hauled truck to California to. Pick her up. She tells us that she would go. On to spend several months in the truck with Larry, which would only mean one thing if this is a actually the true timeline. No matter when she got on the truck with Larry, it would overlap with his marriage to Valerie. Renee's son is also on the truck with them for some time, and at the time he is the same age as Bethany, and he also happens to have the same name as Larry's son, Daniel. In fact, Renee's son even knew Bethany from their school days in Gleason, Tennessee. Renee's daughter was about twelve or thirteen at the time and didn't want to be on the truck with Larry. My daughter, she used. She got on Proclaim and she said, Mama, I can't see. He creaked her out. She said, I don't know why, but she went doll and then Daniel. He didn't mistreat Daniel, but he wouldn't you know, I'll get him knife. According to Renee, Larry was more different this trip than he'd ever been during past interactions they had over the decades. Larry made it a horror I felt me and him he was jealous or something like that. There. I don't know. I just didn't end up. I tried to pinpoint a more accurate timeline. I wanted to make sure I had accurate information for when. I asked Valerie about this. As I've been doing throughout this entire process, I've been very fortright and transparent with each party who chooses to communicate with me. What I don't want to do is put anybody in danger of flying tempers or possibly put anyone in harm's way by getting facts wrong. Did you guys, do you remember any holiday that passed or went through, or any birthdays to try to put this timeline together when you guys were on the truck, was there any like holidays that ha'pender birthdays? Not that I know of now, okay, not that I know of. So no like Christmas? No, it wasn't. It was during summer months. Oh okay, I do know that because I remember being on the truck and when Daniel was on the truck went with us. Wore shorts on the truck because I didn't have and I didn't have any pockets. So I remember Larry held my money and that's one reason I got I gots my met head because he wouldn't get my money back to give to Daniel, so he you know, buy hand some souvenirs A long way. I could never get get my money back from him, about a hundred dollars. But still, yeah, it was summer because I had what was wearing shorts? Okay, well at least sweet. Yeah, and then maybe like the fourth of July I went by, or. We didn't celebrate any holidays. You know, we never celebrated any holidays to get her. But I, like I said, I did not know he was with another girl. I asked Valerie about Renee. Renee holds steadfast that the reason she broke it off with Larry one last time is because the last time she got off the truck with Larry, the TBI agent contacted her and told her about his girlfriend Valerie, and she was irate and knew it was over once and for all. Valerie Markowski, he doesn't hold back with her opinion. Jules. We just interviewed Renee, and on the interview she tells us how she was driving with Larry about seven months, but when TBI told her Larry was with you, she left him. Things like that have come up, and I know everyone deserves a chance to clear their name. Valerie. Okay, Renee is a liar. That is a flat out lie. Let me explain how I met him. His brother would go to a bar and my best friend's wife worked there. She started talking to Larry's brother about me. Well, I happened to go into the bar one night to drop some food and Larry was there with Renee. A little while went by and my friend's wife said, well, look, Larry got back with his ex. I said, no big deal, I don't know the guy anyways. Well, apparently Larry dropped Renee off at her mother's. A little time went by and I was at home and my phone rang and it was Larry. We met and hit it off, sat on my front porch all night long and we talked about Bethany. Renee did have some things in Larry's semi clothes and some family pictures. The day Larry and Johnny got divorce, we gave Renee's things to Larry's mom and she returned them. Larry's mom told me that Renee told her she thought Larry turned gay because he didn't want anything to do with her. Larry wanted to be her friend, and that's all. I was on the truck for seven months with Larry. Think about the timeline. Bethany went missing March fourth. I met Larry in June. Her story doesn't add up. Larry says, Renee was only on the truck with him for approximately. Two weeks, that's it. And her kids were on the truck also the second week, So Renee's story is garbage. When Larry would talk to his mom, she would tell Larry that Renee asked about him and things like that. Renee came back into the picture around March of two thousand and five or two thousand and six. Me and Larry had split up, and Harold Roberts moved into our home with Larry. Well, Renee called me at my mother's harassing me. I never met her while Harold lived in my home with Larry. It burnt to the ground. Kind of stra bad things happen when Harold is around. I don't know if Renee was at my house or Larry just had her call me. I took a lot of detector test and failed. They The fire investigator was saying, I burned my house down. Why would I burn my kid's belongings? And my own belongings vehicle and awe. Anyways, I paid out a pocket and took another polygraph and failed that one too. Come to find out, I should have not taken one to begin with, because I have anxiety. Also, Larry has a letter that Renee wrote stating how Larry is such a great guy who loves his daughter and pleading for people to help find her. The letter was supposed to go to the police and the district attorney. It's about two or three page letter. It's been a while since I read it, so don't quote me on how many pages. In a second interview with Renee, I read her Valerie's response. Well, I've told you straight up that I never thought at first, I never thought Larry would ever hurt Harmon's kid. I never You couldn't make me believe that for a millionaire, you know, I honestly leave it at first, And now I've always like, I love Larry. I ain't gonna lie. I did a lot my middle off on my bates and stuff like that, But everything I've said has been the truth. You know, why am I spending so much effort trying to figure out what the truth is about these timelines? We already know Larry is a repeat adulterer, so nobody would be surprised if he was in fact dating both Valerie and Renee at the same time. But here's why we care. Renee tells us that while they were on the truck together, Larry would park the truck at his brother, Johnny Markowski's house. Yes, we know, there are very few names being shared which are different. Most are used two or three times, but we swear Larry's brother is also a Johnny. Renee recalls the house as being very unique. It was partly underground, but that's That's not the part that peaked my curiosity. It's this, So was there times when you guys would stop that he would leave to go make phone calls or anything like that. I got, that's so strange that you said that when on the truck. You know, of course, when we went in the he went cleaned up. I don't you know what he does when he went over. But when we we would stay in Sweetwater with his brother on the time that we ran that, you know, over that way, and every single morning it never failed. Around between six and seven, Larry disappeared ever morning and I never knew where he was going and I never went with him. It is Johnny. It's Johnny. Yeah, I don't know. Now I'm bad in my memory, you know. So it was Johnny. And now how long were you in Sweetwater then? When that would happen? It's ten times. I mean, that was what we stayed when we went on the truck. Renee claims that they stayed at his brother Johnny's house at least ten different times. That would definitely accumulate to more than just two weeks on the road. Let's just say they'd be off the road for two days minimum. That's twenty days together, which would negate Larry's claim that they were only on the. Truck for two weeks total. Here's what else I just can't shake. So, according to Renee, Larry was sneaking off every morning when he parked the truck at his brother's, which happened ten times. Okay, now we needed to confirm how long he was going each morning. Maybe then we could draw radius around brother Johnny's house and see if there are any significant locations or connections within that radius where he could have been going quite. A few hours, two three hours almost every morning. Really, and he would never tell you where he went. Sure, I asked him, But he Larry, I've heard he want you to do something, to say you mind your own business. Renee's description of the home and the location was also matched with Valerie's description of the home. I feel full confidence that Renee is telling the truth about out staying at Johnny's home with Larry when they were off the road or in between halls. And now what I want to know is this, Where was Larry going in the morning for hours on end. I asked Renee if he brought her food or coffee when he returned. Could he possibly be getting food and meeting some alone time? But she said no, never, and he never did tell her where he was. I was able to locate the home and shared the photos with both Valerie and Renee, and they both confirmed it was Larry's brother, Johnny's home. So we do have an exact location. But where do we go from here? Well? I have an idea we need to talk to Larry's brother, Johnny, but we've not yet been successful in our attempts to contact him. And if we were, what are the chances he'd talk with us while Renee and Larry were on the road. Those undetermined number of weeks during an undetermined timeframe, although we know it was after March and before September as Bethany went missing in Mark and Renee says she was not on the truck with him for her birthday, which is in September. She tells us some interesting things that happened during that time, which we want to share with you. In earlier chapters, you may recall that eyewitnesses who saw Larry in the shopping mall on March fourth say that Larry seemed odd because he had his sunglasses on inside the mall at night. I never seen Larry without a sunglasses on too many times. He ain't gonna let you see your eyes weird He with them and he moves up with them. I don't know, he just I've never hardt, like I said, ever sing without them. So him going into a mall with his sunglasses on would not be weird for Larry in your opinion, that would just be very on brand for Larry. And if he used to go into establishments with his sunglasses on. Yet. I then asked Renae if the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ever approached her after she got on the truck with Larry did Valerie Trout with the TBI ever tell you anything else or ask you to bug his car or record anything, or ask you any questions? And how did she approach you? Also, I offered to bug if I told him, if they would bug his sunglasses, I would give him. I'm glad because if he had a bug in his someblass, you know exactly where he's what he's done, because he sleeps in them. But no, they never if that had never asked me that. That just looks like a quirk, a peculiar thing. He goes bed, he goes dead, and when he gets up the wrong space, that's so weirdous. Something he's always done him. Was he on drugs? No drugs, No, he would never get us. He never done, ain't I mean driver, he's he's all on adrenaline. He never do anything. He didn't believe in that. But what about the sunglasses? Bo Johnny Bethany's mother and Sheila, Larry's first wife both say that he never has sunglasses on the way that Renee recalls. I also asked his current wife, Valerie, and she too says he does not wear them out of the typical time. I then asked Renee if she was ever with Larry when he saw any flyers for Bethany. Man Larry were I want to say, either Georgia or Arkansas. We went into a store and it's something that had he had seen before. There was a sketch of a lady I think you know I'm talking about. It was seeing trying to put it, trying to put Bethany in a school and oschool or something like that. Yeah. When I when I sing that picture, I thought it was Larry's mother. Now I know Larry's mother like the back of my hand. She's a beautiful woman and she would never I don't believe she ever had anything to do that. But that's who I thought was. So did she didn't come him? Did he see the flyer? Or was it just you that saw the flare? We we're in the store. It was they put it, you know, up on their bulletin board things. And he looked at me and I looked at him and I told my friend, was like your mom, And that's who I thought it was. Of course I don't believe his mom. You know that it was his mom because I know his mom real well and she would never be it. She would never ever go along with anything like that. And what did he say when you said that? He saying not anything. He didn't say who he thought? It looked like nothing. Nope, not anything. Renee had her suspicions that the Tennessee Beer of Investigation was trailing Larry's locations very closely during their time on the road. Were several times in the big truck when they get there and they won't look in the back in the bed, you know, I guess, well, they probably had him, you know, bugged and or fowled forever, you know. And I get up there and I didn't, you know, what they did? And I look at her by the buttoning, I get look inside the truck and then of the truck and everything. And there was something else in the back of that truck. Renee recalls seeing a child's blanket and a teddy bear tucked under the back seat. When she asked Larry about them, he told her that they're the only things he has a Bethany's. And after about an hour and a half of conversation, we end our call with Renee, but before we disconnect, I remind her to call me if anything comes to mind that she feels that we need to know, and that's exactly what happened. I hear you, Okay, So I talked to Valerie on Messenger because back out to her to give her one more chance, because I said, all these interviews I'm doing, uh, there's a common denominator that most everybody thinks Larry has something to do with it. We have some like very direct questions, and I can read you what she said. But she also. Mentioned the cop story too, So I want to hear your version and then i'll read you her version. I didn't say anything that because this is such an awful wall thing to be telling anybody. I you know, I just really didn't know how I felt about when he told me. He said that Harold called him one time one day and wanted him to come down there with his gun. That's why I just thought it was all off wall. And Larry said that he was had had there was a black cop that was cheating with Harold's old lady wife girlfriend. I don't know if they were married, and he had they took him to a swampy area and killed them. And that's and that's basically all he said about it. And I always thought that was just such an odd Why would Harold call asking Larry to bring a gun to him? And he Larry said that they killed him, and he never said anything else about it. That's the only time. He's only told me that story once or twice, I believe. And when I told I told TB I what he had told me. And they had already heard that story from Larry's brother Johnny, and I already called them the same story, and they said they they couldn't do anything because they had they having a clue to where that that was supposed to have happened. Well, if it was a cop in Georgia, then you would be able to likely find. Yeah, it was a cop and Georgia and Georgia. Did he say, who pulled the trigger and shot the cop? Uh? Huh? He said they. And now I wasn't sure if it was Georgia or Arkansas. I wasn't sure. But wherever Harold lived at the time is where it was. I wasn't exactly sure that it was Georgia or Arkansas. I think it was one. It was one of the other, right, I don't remember exactly. It's wherever Gerld lived. It's where this happened. Okay, that would probably make sense because I was trying to look for stuff yesterday already, and I was looking in Georgia and I just couldn't find anything. But I was searching the late nineteen nineties because I wondered if that's when it would have occurred. Well, see, he told me this when I was on the truck with him, and that you know that. You know, I was only on truckle with him like seven months and it hadn't been any worth about a year or maybe less than when she disappeared. He didn't tell me that they had done it. Then, he just told me story. He didn't say when or anything like that. We're talking like it could be any decade. Yeah, and it yeah, because they've been friends forever. But it was just like I said, for an off the wall story, for him to tell me, you know, what they've done. And then when I find out he told Johnny the same thing. It just made me think, wherever this happened is. I always thought, wherever that story and if it was any truth, so that story at all, where would happen is where they would find Bethaning. That's what I will always had my mind. And I told to Yad that exact thing that I thought that story was had something to do with betaning. Wow, that's what they told me that they they hadn't they didn't know where it was at, so there was you know, they didn't no proof of where it was at, so there's no way to check into it. I'm curious how much they looked into it too. Did he tell you the. Story in front of Johnny Father? No? Okay, No, we were by ourselves on Hope. Okay, So are you ready for what I'm going to read you next time? On Missing in Hushtown Chapter eight, Part two, I am the Larry Markowski. I am Larry Markowski's wife, and I just feel that somethings need to be straightened out and just tell my story of what I know and what I don't know. Missing in Hushtown Season two is executive produced in partnership by Fireeyes Media LLCs Jules Thorpe and Johen Rivera, as well as Momcast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft. The script is written by Jules Thorpe and edited by Heather Northcraft. Project lead is Rachel Holloway and master editing and audio production is done by John Rivera. Jules Thorpe is your host h Fire Eyes Media Mum aspicians raising voices while raising kids.