Walter Grossnickle finally had some free time on Saturday, August 18, 1984, to make the

hour-long drive from his house in North Manchester, Indiana to August to check out some land

that he'd been interested in buying for his timber operations.

This was actually the second time he had driven there to have a look, but he wanted to double

check the trees on the plot before he moved forward with actually buying it.

As Walter wasn't from Arches, he didn't realize that there was a massive manhunt going

on near his destination.

Nor was he aware that a mother of three had been abducted the day before just a few miles

away and was still missing.

You could call it happenstance or fate.

The Marshall County prosecutor calls it divine intervention, but many believed Darlene would

have never been found, had it not been for Walter's timber search in the woods that day,

or his subsequent call to police.

This is Episode 3, The Wooded Path.

When police got Walter's call at around 230, the lead investigators were just wrapping

up a press conference in Plymouth at the Marshall County Police Department.

They announced to the reporters that they were looking for a blonde man driving a four-door,

blue-green car with rust along the bottom.

They asked reporters to tell their readers and listeners to call the Indiana State Police

or the Marshall County Police Department with any tips.

By this point, Marshall County and State Police were heading up the search together, with

officers from Argus PD assisting with manpower.

...