Chapter 9 part 1: Valerie Markowski

Today is January twenty seventh, twenty twenty six. It is about two o'clock Central, and I'm hopping on the first recorded phone interview with Valerie Markowski, who is married to Bethany Markowski's father, Larry Markowski, and she has agreed she offered to interview with me here she is. Hey, nice, it worked. This is missing in Hushtown Season two, Bethany Markowski, Chapter nine, Part one, Valerie Markowski and I'm your host, Jules Thorpe. The following interviews express opinions of the interviewees and their personal experiences and do not reflect the opinions of Fireries Media or mom Cast productions. This episode contains stories of physical and sexual abuse. Please listen responsibly. Can I ask, does Larry know that you're going to come onto the podcast and have agreed to be recorded for it and be included in it. He knows, he knows that I'm doing the podcast here, So. Do you have any opinion about it? No? Not really, you know? Okay? All right? Do you want people to get to know you? Because I know we've talked about you. We've had a very You've been very open and honest, and we've had such a respective relationship and texting and stuff, and I've you know, let everybody know that part too, but they haven't actually heard like from you and your voice, apart from me reading our texts. And uh, I don't know if you want. You know, we're trying to tell the story holistically, so I don't know how much you want to tell about your life and leading up to meeting Larry and how that came about. It's up to you. I'll just give a quick rundown I guess of what I was doing when I met him. This is not the first call I've had with Valerie, but it is the first recorded interview. In the past, I've asked her to consider doing an interview to share her truth, and she politely declined, stating that she wasn't around Larry before Bethany went missing, so she doesn't have anything to add. We differ on that, and I've always said that to her as well. She has a story to tell. She's been continuously dragged through the calls for not just her association as Larry's wife, but for her choice to stay silent. But that's just the thing. Valerie hasn't been silent. It's just that nobody has ever given her the opportunity to be heard in a space that felt respectful. In the past, she has been vocal on the help Find Bethany Markowski Facebook page, going back and forth with people while she defends Larry, that never yields to a cordial exchange. In fact, just the past few months, Harold and Valerie got really into some nasty exchanges. If it sounds like I am trying to push a narrative that Valerie is a victim in all of this, well it's because I guess a big part of my heart does believe that she is a victim to some degree. Do I believe she's innocent in not perpetuating the toxic discourse surrounding Larry. No, and neither does she. She is the first to say that she is not innocent in how she has conducted herself before. Just because I kind of like Valerie doesn't mean I agree with her or even believe her perception of things, And it doesn't mean we're friends. We have a mutual respect on going, and I always circle it back to our main question, what happened to Bethany Markowski? Could Valerie know something without realizing it? Could she hold information that could either allow everyone to stop suspecting Larry, or does she have information to confirm what so many in the court a public opinion have already decided that Larry knows what happened on March fourth. I do fullheartedly believe, especially after this interview, that Valerie does not know what happened to Bethany Markowski. But I do think she is starting to really question the man she's been married to for two decades. What she does know is this, she does not think Larry is the same man who was married to Sheila or the same man who was married to Johnny. And that's what it comes down to. It's hard for her to envision a world where Larry would hurt a child, let alone his own daughter, because she's never witnessed it. Could it be true, Could Larry Mary truly have become a completely different person once he married Valerie or once Bethany went missing. If doing long form investigated podcasts have taught me anything, it's this. Nothing is ever just black and white. So if you find yourself going back and forth whether Larry Murkowski knows what truly happened to his daughter Bethany on March fourth, two thousand and one or not, You're not alone. We cannot ignore the testimonials from multiple women who have known Larry. They've all experienced mistreatment from Larry, but like they all said, sometimes it was good, and when. It was good, it was really good. But let's get to know Valerie, and in doing so, maybe you'll have a better understanding of how she ended up with Larry Markowski. Valerie was just fourteen years old when she and her boyfriend, who was five years her senior, found themselves expecting a baby. Teenage pregnancy while navigating the complexities of having to grow up quickly and care for a baby while juggling school, was proving to be incredibly difficult, so she chose her baby and dropped out of school in sixth grade. Finding herself just fifteen years old with a baby girl and a very abusive boyfriend, Valerie began to feel isolated and trapped. She would leave and return to her abusive boyfriend multiple times throughout the years, and at just nineteen years old, she would become pregnant with her second child, a son. In nineteen ninety eight, she was able to move into her own place and worked hard to earn her ged, she took jobs as a janitor, worked in a sewing factory, and left her abusive boyfriend one final time. After years of being restricted, restrained, and brutally physically abused, she walked away with her kids. She shares about the controlling side of her children's father, Ry. Bad with him, like I had a bed time. Oh god, I had a bed time, and we lived with his brother. And if I wanted to if I was watching a movie and it didn't if it went over my bedtime, and then I would have to ask for permission to stay up to finish the movie es or he would only give me three cigarette today to smoke. It wasn't allowed to have a phone. Valerie had always wanted to become an EMT and an emergency medical technician, but without the funds for college, she had to pivot and do whatever she could for her children, and she soon found herself a few years later in a new relationship which lasted about two years. Now. After that ended, her best friend, whose wife worked at a bar, told Valerie about a guy who comes to the bar with his brother who Valerie may find attractive, but it looks like he may be back with his ex girlfriend. Who was a woman named, yes, you know, Renee. Valerie shrugged it off because she didn't even know him. And one evening she makes some dinner to bring to her friend at the bar, and there is Larry and they look at each other, but Valerie lets it go. As she said in previous interviews with myself, she realizes he's with another woman. So who cares. Quite sure how long it was after that Larry called me, so she I guess my best friend's wife gave Larry my phone number. And I was actually not feeling well when Larry called and had no clue who he was. But yeah, he called me and I was like, who is this? He said, this is Larry and I was like, Larry who. You know. It was a while, so, you know, I didn't think anything else about it, and he said he was wanting to meet me, and I was kind of like, oh my gosh, you know. And but anyway, that's how I met him, and he come over to the house and we stayed up all night talking and he told me all about Bethany being you know, missing, and you know, some of our life and you know, what I. Was doing, and this was we stayed up all night till morning. This was This was June of two thousand and one, June sixteenth, sixteen. Did he tell you about Johnny? Did he mention anything about any of that, or Sheila or any of his past wives or lives. Yeah, I mean he pretty much laid it all out. I mean, he said he was going through a divorce. Man to recap Johnny and Bethany flee Larry in January of two thousand and one. Then Bethany disappears. On March fourth, two thousand and one. Larry gets together with Renee again after picking her up from California sometime between March and June of two thousand and one. Larry meets Valerie June sixteenth, two thousand and one. Larry and Johnny divorced July of two thousand and one. Larry and Valerie mayor In July of two thousand and one. I asked Valerie what he shared about his ex wife's that evening. He told me that he he was young when him and Sheila met, which I'm not quite sure you know how young. But he told me about him booking honor, and he even told me he took the. Coat and rod off the wall and looped her boat with. Coat and so yeah, I mean he told me, but he he didn't really mention anything about beating Johnny like I hear about. He did say that. I think he did hit her maybe once or twice, and it was because they were at a red light and some girls pulled up in the car next to him and he just happened to look over, and I guess Johnny was jealous and she, I guess backhanded him, and quick reaction, he hit her. But that was about it on that. I mean, he's never really spoke. I mean, I know thing, you know, I know things about Sheila. I mean from what he told me. Even I'm not gonna eric because I don't know Sheila, you know, don't I don't know if it's true or you know, He's never really bad in mouth Johnny ever to me. I mean, he has said, you know, she's a liar, you know, or he just felt like she was unhappy because she wanted to do more around her family. I guess they you know, I don't know, I don't know where her family was, but she wanted to be closer to her family and stuff like that. And I'll just say what he told me, that he felt that when he was building the house that it wasn't good enough for Johnny, the area, or just she wanted to be in Nashville with her family. So that's what that boiled down to. But he's never i mean, like I said, really ever bad mouthed Johnny, which is surprising. I know, had everybody's kind of be surprised he does. He's, you know, the only thing he's ever really says, you know, she's a liar and he thinks that she is the one who has Bethany, and he's always thought that and he said he'll always believe it, and that's pretty much all he has said. So I was like, Okay, he didn't give me any reason I think anything different, you know. And even Sheila, like, like I said, I'm not going to mention the things that he said she did. But even to this day. He'll say, Sheila, you got a big heart. She's a good woman. So I'm like, okay. Valerie shares how the first seven years of their marriage was toxic. The first probably. I'm gonna say five six seven years we were married, it was pretty rocky. I hated to do some dumb stuff. And I'm sure I did too, Like I discussed before to you their text or whatever. That I guess for me being beat on by my kids is dad, Did I go into fight mode? You know? Yeah, that's just the way I am. We have tangled up a few times, and I mean, I'm not innocent. I have latched onto him. And listen closely because the next comment from Valerie is very revealing. He has never beat me, you know, or anything. He did. He did punch me in the face one time. And then she goes back to how she wasn't innocent in it all either. But I have done, you know, several things to him. You know. It's it wasn't just him, it was both. And but as far as like beating me, no, no, I've never like walked around with black eyes or bruises or. Not anything like that. Now, he did cunch me in the face one tom and. I did have a picture of my face, but it wasn't like majorly black and blue. It was more like a yellow kind of look. And that's what I am talking about. It's kind of hard because. When I hear everybody else talk about him, it's not the same person I'm married to. Even though he does do stupid things, if that makes sense. Something I admire about Valerie is she is never opposed to hearing different views. I often play devil's advocate and wonder if I've been too direct, to blunt, too rude, or have superimposed my own opinion too much. I don't want to insult her, insinuate she's not a smart woman, or take away her willingness to stay in contact with me. She appears to be direct with everyone in her life, Larry, her kids, me, I. Know I said to you about the situation, like about him punging me in the face. I'll say it to him and he'll be like, oh, are you talking about I did mention him? I'm like, Larry, you know it's true, So why are you lying. About it and gaslighting you? Yeah? And that aggravates me. Why why are you doing that? So then I get an attitude and then yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna lie. It makes me mad, like. Why are you a lot about something that you know that happened to say that you did it and go on about it? You know? And to her credit, she doesn't appear to want to lie. According to her, she's telling her truth as she saw it. I asked Valerie if she is comfortable sharing more about the first seven years of their marriage. Valerie shares how their marriage almost ended around two thousand and six. Larry had multiple affairs off and on, but in two thousand and six they actually filed for divorce. Valerie moved out of the home they shared together in Vanor, Tennessee, and both started seeing other people. In fact, Valerie began dating a police officer while Larry was seeing different other women. And during this time, Harold Roberts was divorced from his wife and moved in with Larry. Once Valerie moved out, they both drove for a truck driving company called three L Trucking out of Nayota, a company run by a man named Robert Lowry. It's now that we pause to share about the arguments between Harold and Valerie. On the Help Find Bethany Markowski page, a post made by the page on August third, twenty twenty five, included a photo of Bethany with words quote, we never changed our story because we didn't have to end quote. These words were posted with the picture quote The truth doesn't need to shout, It stays the same no matter who's listening. For over two decades, We've said the same thing. Bethany just didn't vanish, and too many things never made sense. While others change their stories or try to rewrite the past, We've stayed focused. We never stopped, and we never will. End quote under this post, Harold Roberts comments quote the truth doesn't change it. A lie never stays the same end quote, and this sparked a lengthy exchange between Harold and Valerie. Valerie replies, quote, Harold Roberts, you would know that best one of you. Harold, And since you've made your appearance, I have a question for you. What did you use to burn my house down? Remember that conversation you and Larry was having and you flipped out while I recorded it? Oh, and remember telling Larry that he should set my storage unit on fire and take me to the mountains and feed me to the bears. I remember it well. Harold. You're a fake preacher man. You use being a preacher to cover for your dirty doings. You were using scripture to manipulate women and having sex with them. And you want to claim that Larry was watching over Bethany closely, But didn't Larry leave Bethany at your home, your house with your son and other kids while you all went out to eat. Oh wait, is he your son? Harold? Where is Bethany? Harold Roberts and quote Valerie is referring to the last weekend. Bethany was seen alive when Larry took her to Little Rock, Arkansas, to Harold's home. Again, Valerie was not around back then, but she is clearly going off of what Larry has told her. Here is Harold's reply, Harold Roberts quote Valerie Murkowski, is that the lie Larry is telling now. I've never met anybody I wanted to see killed. I was the one that called our boss and told him to get you out of Larry's truck when he's sent me the pictures of you after he beat you for messing with that guy from Pennsylvania and put a knife to your throat. You're a nut for believing I told Larry any such thing. If Robert Lowry hadn't of came to that truck when he did, you might not be around today and he'd done all that to you. I can't believe you. Think he's not capable of doing something to Bethany. I still believe the truth will come out. I hope you're standing on the right side when it does, but you need to open your eyes. End quote. Then the moderator for the Help Find Bethany Markowski page comments this quote, Valerie Mkowski, you really think Harold knows where Bethany is and you've kept that to yourself this whole time? Or is where is Bethany just something fun you like to say to people? What soun are you talking about? What are you even suggesting? If you care about finding out the truth about Bethany, why are you withholding this info in your suspicions? End quote. Valerie replies Valerie Murkowski quote help find Bethany Markowski. I haven't kept nothing to myself. Just because you're just hearing about it doesn't mean it hasn't been mentioned. End quote. The page admin for the Help Find Bethany Markowski Facebook page replies to her this quote, Valerie Mkowski to who did you mention it to the police? Anybody who is trying to find Bethany? I think you keep a lot of things to yourself, actually, anything you can get away with not mentioning. End quote. Valerie replies quote help find Bethany Murkowski. I don't keep shit to myself. Do you not think I have spoken to the TBI before? Come on? End quote. Harold chimes in once more, Harold Roberts quote, Valerie Murkowski, you're a fool. If I knew anything about Bethany, his whole world would know. Here's something else you. Should ask Larry. I begged him to put posters up and to go on talk shows and get the news out. He threw a fit because I told his and my boss that he has a daughter who had disappeared. He didn't want anyone to know, and he didn't do a thing to find her or help her or help find her. Tell me I'm lying, Prove me wrong. Wake up, Valerie, you're standing by monster and you're too blind to see it. End quote. Then the comments returned between. Valerie and Harold. Harold replies to Valerie's comments, saying she recorded him talking to Larry. Harold Roberts quote, The only thing you recorded was me telling Larry it wasn't going to be a scapegoat since I fixed this GFI breaker. That's where that sneak is. The grass was going to try to put that blame. The GFI breaker was outside, so put that in your pipe. And by the way, you're welcome for saving your life. Do you remember that? End quote. Valerie replies Valerie Murkowski quote Harold Roberts, No, Harold, I don't. I don't ever remember being in a situation that I needed you to save my life. Care to explain? Probably not? Am I missing something? You sure you have the right person? End quote Harold Harold Roberts quote Valerie Murkowski, if you're Larry's wife, you know, I guess you forgot about going to court about this too. That's documented, so don't lie about that. I'm not going to argue with you about any of this. You can deny all of it, but it is on court records that you filed charges on him and he went to trial. End quote. Valerie mccowsky replies, quote Harold Roberts. I'm totally clue is that this moment, but it may come to me, But still you never saved my life. I was never around you for you to save my life or situation that I needed you to save my life, So no, it's not making sense to me. End quote. Harold replies, quote Valeriemkowsky. I was in Charleston, South Carolina. Delivering chickens, and Larry was at I seventy five, a little truck stop in Tennessee, and he started sending me pictures of you, and he said he was going to send him to your boyfriend in Pennsylvania. He sent me pictures of y'all having sex and you was beat up somewhere he had hit you. And one picture scared me to the core. It was a picture of. You laying on his bed with a knife at your throat, and I seen the fear in your eyes. I was not able to get to you, so I called Robert and told him he needs to get to you and get you out of the truck because I didn't know what Larry was going to do next. And just so you know, I could have testified against him in the trial, but we wanted Larry for something much bigger, and that was Bethany, whatever he did to her. So the FBI got me out of the testimony because they knew the reason I was there, and that was to get Larry to tell me something, anything that would lead the FBI to Bethany. I will say one more thing here. If you don't remember this and you have brain damage, somehow there is no way you could forget any of this. You need to wake up and realize if he could do these things to you, he could do it to anyone else. And by the way, I was the one that called the FBI and they had him pulled over to try to find anything they could use, but he was smart enough to get rid of them. End quote. Valerie Markowski replies quote Harold Roberts. Larry and I have never been to court or over anything like you're saying. The only time we were in court was for a restraining order driving by my house. Remember you were with him. Larry did punch me in the face one time over the so called boyfriend in Pennsylvania. We would scuffle around, push and shove, but beat that never happened. I don't know who you're trying to fool, but you have never seen a picture of me lying on a bed, beat with a knife to my throat. And I have no idea Larry would take pictures of us having sex. Larry isn't that talented when it comes to working a phone. The only thing I know about I seventy five is when you met a woman by the name of Kathy with a K and you pulled your junk out and shook it in her face. That didn't come from Larry's mouth. That came out of Kathy's mouth. You remember Kathy, don't you? Also? A few have pictures, Please. Please send them post them here. I know if someone sent me pictures like that and I was helping FBI, I would still have them chucked away and quote Harold Roberts replies quote Valerie Mkowski. I'm hoping that this will come to a head real soon. When it does, you'll realize what you're married to. I was just like you at one time. I didn't and couldn't see how Larry could have done what was being said about him. I'm only telling you what I'm going to say because I feel sorry for you. I called Larry in so many lies it's pathetic. Every time he talks to me about anything on Bethany, the story change, just little things that I noticed. And if you've talked to him, think back. Is he always saying the same thing or is it changing some I've called you a fool. I'm sorry for that, but I can't understand how you can believe him after what he'd done to you. This blows my mind. But brace yourself because I believe God Almighty is going to do what he promised me. It doesn't matter if you believe that or not. Your faith is not required. I believe I will know everything that happened to Bethany before I die, and when I do die, I will stand in the presence of God and praise him for keeping his word to me. I'm asking you to take a good look at what he's been telling you about the events of this case. I guarantee it's not adding up. End quote the help Find Bethany Markowski admin responded and I want to include the line, which I feel is most important. They said this quote, Valerie Markowski, put your money where your mouth is, Valerie, and actually do something to help. Go on the podcast and tell your story. If everybody else is wrong, you should have nothing to worry about. End quote. And five months later, here she is on her own accord talking to the podcast. There was a lot to unpack in the back and forth, but I want to give a nod to season one and missing in Hushtown because Casey Robinson, Jennifer Wicks's sister who runs the page Justice for Jennifer and Adriana Wicks chimes in, and I want to thank her for always being a great voice of reason and maintaining focus. Casey says this quote Harold Roberts and Valerie Makowski. It's clear y'all don't like each other. It sounds rightfully so. But we're here for Bethany. Valerie, address the questions we're all asking you. If Larry asked him to respond, Facebook fighting isn't helping find Bethany. We need Larry to state facts so the case can narrow, the timeline can narrow, things can be cleared. End quote. I asked Valerie about this trucking incident which occurred during Valerie and Larry's separation. Well, I know that Harold had claimed that he got you out of a situation or a something like Larry had beat you horribly and said it's Harold a picture, And. Yeah, I know nothing about that. I know nothing about that. I don't even know what Harold's talking about. I don't know what situation. Like I said, anyway, they was going through a separation and I had picked up a load of chickens like I always do, heading down to Charleston, South Carolina. Well, Larry had was. Supposedly supposed to be picking up a load of chicken going to South Carolina as well. Okay, well, I got down into I would say, Georgia, and I started getting text messages from Larry and it was pictures of him with his thing hanging out pointing at Vallery. And so I called him. So, Larry, wasn't the world's going on? He said, I am going to end this crowd between her and her boyfriend. Now. I said, what are you doing, Larry? And she said, I'm sending pictures to him, and I'm sending pictures to you where you'll know what's going on. So anyway, he's sent several pictures of her neked and I could see where she was hit. You know, she had a bruise on her face. But she said he sent me one picture of her laying back on the bed with a knife stuck to her, throwing with a butcher knife, a big butcher knife. I called him immediately, I said, Larry, I said, what are you doing? I said, I hadn't made up my mind where I'm going to kill her or what. I said, what Larry, if you do kill her, you know what everybody's gonna think. You've done the business. Don't you anyway? Anyway, I ain't made up my mind, and they hung up on me. So I was now I was miles away from him. I couldn't. I couldn't get the vialery if I wanted to. So I called Robert Lowry, which is our boss. I said, Robert, I said, you need to get to Larry. I said, all I can tell you is on the I seventy five. Did the truck stopped up for about exit sixty two? Yeah, maybe sixty one and sixty two. I said, he's got villery in the truck. And I said he's done sending me pictures of her naked and him screwing her and with a butcher and ife stuck to her throat. And I said, is the fear in her eyes right now? I said, you need to get there, Robert, and you need to get there now and get her out of the truck. Yeah. So he did. He went and got her out of the truck. I said, call me, Robert when you do. I said, because if you don't, I said, to call the police. I said, you don't get him out of her out of there, and you don't call me and tell me that she's home safe, I said, I fixed him to call the police on him. Anyway, he got her out, and uh, Larry called me immediately, and uh he was mad because I called Robert and I didn't stop there, ma'am. I called the FBI. Yeah, there, Knoxville, and I told him what was going on, and uh, anyway, they pulled him over six h By that time, he had done, he done throw some of the white. Matter of fact, when I seen. Him, he poured out a can of gas right in front of me, and I said, well, what in the worry was he going to do with that? And he said, I was going to burn her up. Man. Yeah, So I told the FBI, I said, you know, I didn't think that Larry was capable of doing anything like that. I said, but the way he's thinking tonight shows me he's got the mind of a killer, a murderer. Was that the. That you were referencing or what I referenced when I said the you know you had stopped from Larry trying to kill her? Yeah? Yeah, okay. I just wanted to make sure that that's the time and it wasn't another time. No, And I didn't even really I didn't even really know Valerie you know, I ain't no where, but. I don't. I didn't want to see anything happened to her either. Yeah, definitely, definitely, And she's. Hated my goods all this time because of the stuff Larry's probably told her. You know, I mean, Larry's not gonna speak to to me. Trust me, He's not gonna speak gither me because I know too much about it. Am he sure this is me? For one? Like I said, Larry has punched me. He punched me in the face one time. Okay, it didn't bruise right away, and like I said, it was just like a yellowish maybe had like a little purple in it. It wasn't You couldn't hardly even notice it. Do you not recall Robert short jabbed me? Is what he did? He short jabbed me. And uh yeah, I mean there was no beating to where and the whole thing that happened when he punched me, it happened on Highway seventy two in van Or. There was no truck stop or exit sixty nothing like. I don't know what he's talking about now. That happened when he punched me. That happened at a little store. It's like by Rarity Bay seventy two. When I left Larry, I went to my friend's house. Well, and it says that you were naked with a knife to you. I think, sure, this is me. I don't know because if we put this on the podcast, then we have we have you said, I don't I don't know this. I don't remember this at all. This is not so you don't remember this at all? Now about the gas, and I don't. I don't know nothing about the gas. I've heard about the gas, but this is like a totally different situation the gas. I never seen any gas or anything like that. But I know that we got pulled over one time and they asked me if I was okay, and I'm just. Looking at I'm like, what the hell, And I'm like, yeah, why. But this was supposedly, from my understanding of it, all came from TBI. So maybe Harold contacted them. I'm not sure, but there was nothing going on. I was actually on the road with him. I didn't meet him. I was actually on the road with him coming back from oh my gosh, somewhere I. Don't even know. I remember we were going up a heel and we got pulled over and they just asked like, are you okay? Oh yeah, And then my stepdad and mom mentioned it to me, and I'm like, well, there was nothing going on. The gas, so what does this gas have to do that was it there? Like do you have gas in the truck or something? I don't know. I never seen any gas. I don't even know what anybody's even talking about. Okay, yeah, so you don't think these pictures of a naked woman with a knife to her throat either don't exist and or it's not you. Okay. For one, Larry has never been really good with even a phone. And to text a picture that would be like a data cost back in wait whatever two thousand and six is this, I'm assuming he's referencing when you were dating, when you guys are split during that time. Yeah, yeah, see, And that is when Larry punched me in the face because when I was in the truck, got it in the truck the guy, the guy was seeing seeing he lived in Pennsylvania. I was here. We didn't we didn't even hardly see each other, you know. And then. When I got in the truck he called me, which Larry was seeing that tammy woman. At the same time, so I told the guy I was talking to. I was like, uh, I'll have to call you back. I'm busy. Well, then when I got off the phone, he started messaging me, and I was like, I'm busy. I'll call you what I'm done. And that's why Larry punched me because I was talking to another eye. Did you pass out at all? Punched me? Do what did you pass out or lose consciousness at all? No? Weird, No, he just like short jabbed me. And I just looked at him like I said. What the hell are you doing? But no, And like I said, I went to my friends, and I did go back and lie to my mom because my. Face it was, like I said, it was like brow of my cheek and she's like, what happened to your face? Well, I total lie. I was like, well, I got out of bed and I was sleeping in her daughter's room and she had junk on the floor. Because I think my mom would freak out, you know, And. I don't know, maybe sometimes make a bigger deal than what it really is, you know, so because I'm my daughter and yeah. So well Harold, Harold says that you're a fool and that in this interview. I just read that you're a fool, and you'll just believe anything that Larry says. It was a fool. Harold said that you are a fool. I'm a fool. No, I think I'm probably he calls me a fool because I don't know. I don't I don't know what he's I don't know what he's talking about, even like with. The gas, Like you know, I never seen any gas. Even when we got pulled over and they asked me if I was okay, I was already on the road. We were all I believe we were almost we were heading home and there was nothing going on at all, Like we weren't arguing. Nothing. So I never seen the game and don't even know what anybody's even talking about on that point. So he said, where is it now? I do know? Around that time, see, I used to do a new construction cleanup and clean houses and stuff over in Ridy Bay and stuff like that, these big houses, like seven thousand square foot homes. And as I was cleaning, actually it was me and my sister. I took my sister with me and we were doing a new construction cleanup job and we were taking a break and I was sitting up on the wall and these pictures started coming through on my phone, and of course the sunshine, and so I couldn't really make out what I was looking at. And I handed it one sister. I said, what is this. And she looked at me, she said, it's a vagina. Here Larry was sending me pictures of some woman's When was this. It's when we were split up, and oh my gosh, that's back probably around the time maybe the house burnt. You think that Harold was around and Larry Larry told me that he didn't take the picture of the woman. It was I believe Robert Lowry's son or somebody that worked for Robert was at a party or something and he had the pictures on his phone. So to make me mad, he sent a picture to me. Oh interesting, convenient. Yeah, I didn't even know what it was. I couldn't even make out what it was. And was this first, like, it's a vagina, it's a vagina. I was like what, So then I waiting, you know, it's I went in. I was adjusted and I could see and I was like, hey, well they sure the hell. Is Yeah, so at least we know he knows how to send pictures, So there's that. Huh. Yeah, that's really a nerving. And once again we're left with more questions than answers. If this was not Valerie in the photos naked on a bed with a butcher knife to her neck with Larry's penis in the photo, if that story that Harold told is true, that's very unnerving because if it's not you, who was this woman? He had a knife too, that was naked with his penis out. I can't even imagine that because. It sounds like he wasn't in his right mind. And the reason I'm saying is is like, if we're watching a movie and like a naked lady comes on, you know, or whatever, Larry will put his head down and I've always asked her, why do you do that? And he's like, well, how do respect for you? You know. I couldn't let this one go. I just had to say something, Yeah, he cheats on all his wife. Oh my gosh, Valerie, I. Don't even know. I don't even know if. It if it makes him feel uncomfortable because like just because he's in the same room with me. You know, well, this is like such a duplicity of this guy. It's like, who's the real Larry. It's okay, I don't know, give me a headache. Valerie swears she never went to court over this truck incident, but she does tell me that they've both had restraining orders out against one another at different times during their relationship when Valerie and Larry were separated. The time when Harold was living with Larry in two thousand and six, Valerie and Larry's house burnt down at the time, Larry blamed the fire on a housekeeper who lit a candle. Coincidentally, the housekeeper was also the same woman Larry was dating during this time. Valerie recalls several incidents during this time a separation. I mean like when we were split up, he would do the whole following thing. What do you mean, like literally follow you? Yeah, yeah, he would follow me, you know, and I'm my gosh, it's just stupid. Like where would he follow you? Give me example, please. I took my friend to. Marvel to get her car because it was burke down, and on the way back he was on a motorcycle and on the way back he seen me and he hurried whipped it around and I was in the passing lane. He comes up the middle lane and is riding beside me, like swerving intimmy, and I'm. Like, oh my gosh, what an idiot. Wow. And I'm thinking, like, you're fixing to kill yourself. You're going to be splattered all over the road. And I hurry up and swerved to get away from him, and I almost hit another car. I didn't even look to see if there was a car. I just swerved to get away from him, and I pulled over on the side of the road and. My friend was in front of me, and she jumped it the mean she slammed on a brace. She jumped out of the car, and she came back there and she went off on him. You're like, what the hell are you doing? You know, there's kids in the car, and all of a sudden, the person who witnessed it pulled off on up. But they didn't really want anything. They didn't want any you know, so but. I did call. I think a state trooper showed up. Yeah, And. Like one time on my way home and my. Mom right there after you passed the fort on three sixty in Vonnor, he was in a van and that's where these two women came from him and Harold him and Harold had at the house that burnt. Yeah, you know there was two women. Oh I didn't know that. Jeez. Yeah, there was this Tammy woman. And anyway, he's he's driving around in this woman's van and her name was either Cindy or Injury. Anyway, these two. Women were at the house and supposedly this Cindy or Sinjury. I'm not sure what her name exactly is, but she was the cleaning lady. H And then when the house burnt, it was, oh, she left candles burning. I don't know if it's true or not. But he was driving her van and he came up. He was right on my butt and then he swung out around me and was like right beside me, just you know, laughing, being stupid. So I guessed it to get away from him. And oh, he's gassing on it too. Well, here comes to school buff and I'm like, oh God, I gotta let him in, you know, So I slammed the brakes on so he could get in her. He was no hat that school does head on. Now that that's the stuff that was going on, you know between the five six even years that. We didn't get along very well, like he got mad. I wanted to know more about the house fire because, in full transparency, I have all the court records and insurance filings from the house fire, so I needed to know more. I was in Pennsylvania. I love to go to Pennsylvania, and my dad was in the hospital. I'm having a like a heart path. He had to have a stint put in and I went up there to carry him, and Larry kept calling me on my cell phone and I'm like, Larry cop calling me. You know, I'm at the hospital taking care of my dad, and hated believe I was there. So he got the number to the hospital and got my dad's room number and called me the phone in my dad's room and I answered it, and now I'm like, Larry, I told. You I am at the hospital. And He's like, I tell you what, you just keep your ass up there and don't you ever. Come back home? And I was like, okay, you know. So I when my dad was finally released, I stayed with him a few more days and took care of him. And when I come back to Tennessee, I didn't go home. I went straight to my mom's. By this time, Harold's already in my house. He's unmoved in. M yeah, he's done moved in. And of course, you know, I didn't have any clothes except for the clothes I took for the trip to PA and I called the police and. They went up there with me. I couldn't get in the house, so I busted the window out. I went in and all my clothes were already gone out of the closet, out of the dressers. My vehicle was going out of the garage, and so I asked the police officer. I was like, so what can I take? You know, he took stuff, you know, the stuff in the loft I gole loved scene and some other stuff was already missing. So she just looked at me, she said, take whatever. So I jumped up on a. Couch, put my foot on the wall and started jerking shells and just grabbing what I could get in two vehicles and went back and you know, spread my kids blanket on their bed and just started pouncing stuff in the blanket. And I mean, she told me to hurry, That's what I was doing. He wasn't he wasn't home. No, he wasn't. He wasn't there so I got what I could get into vehicles and left and yeah, the next thing I know, house is. Burnt and my vehicle was burnt, and the glad and. Yeah, that was a whole mess. But Harold was around at that time. So yeah, well, okay, that obsessively calling and controlling and snapping a new behavior that sounds exactly like what Johnny went through as well from other interviews I've had with her, Like you were sharing that story, I'm like, this sounds just like Johnny m hm, the controlling aspect and and things like that. I'd taken a deep breath. This interview was five hours long. We're both exhausted. What a mess. And and to think this is all where's Bethany? I mean, and all in all of this, where's that little girl? It just breaks me. Yeah, I wish I knew. And like I told Johnny, you know, I scream, you know, sometimes I'm like, Lord, where is she? Send a sign? You know? Yeah, And Johnny's like, I get it. I've done it too, you know, Just where is she? Yeah? Is she out there somewhere? Is she or does something happened? You know? And I get I get it, you know, I get it. She needs to be found, either either alive or deceased. She needs to be signing and. Sure need question need to be answered. I agree, I do agree. Whatever happened, she didn't deserve any of it. Next time on Missing in Hushtown, Chapter nine, Part two, Valerie Markowski, do you believe these people like when they tell you all this stuff, because I know it's hard. When you have someone you will believe it, because, like I said, it's he has done stupid stuff, you know, like selling cars. I mean, he's cheated on me, and he has cheated on me. That we were separated for over a year and he was dating a few different women and I ended up dating a cop. And I don't know, it's been a wild ride. But like I said, that's back the first bive six seven years, we're getting married and now this whole time, you know, after that, it's been. You know, pretty good. Well, I worry about you, and I can tell you straight up to Valerie, I worry about you. Do you know if you're being mistreated to the degree you are because of the relationship that you exited not too long before you were with Larry. Missing in Hushtown Season two is executive produced in partnership by Fireeyes Media LLCs Jules Thorpe and Gen Rivera, as well as mom Cast Productions Rachel Holloway and Heather Northcraft. The script is written by Jules Thorpe and edited by Heather Northcraft. Project lead is Rachel Holloway and fast Editing and audio production is done by John Rivera. Jules Thorpe is your host. Fire Eyes Media Mum hasps raising voices while raising kids