Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

Mr. McCann said he pulled into the south side at the first road to the cemetery.

He said he jumped out of his truck and seen and heard the mother screaming.

I think she was just saying, my baby, my baby.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 102 of Sword and Scale, a show that anniversary of the conception of this show.

And over that time, we've told you many scary stories about the world in which we live.

And here we are on the cusp of another

Hallows Eve, a time in which we celebrate the very idea of fear. But unlike ghosts and

goblins, the story we have for you today evokes a completely different type of fear, a fear

based in reality, a fear of what could happen to any one of us

because of the innate imperfections in this thing we call the criminal justice system.

Stay tuned. Thursday, November 8th, 2007.

11-year-old Jody Christine Parrick was playing at a friend's house in Constantine, Michigan,

a small town of around 2,000 people, close to the Indiana border.

She left her friend's house on her bike and headed home.

But after Jody did not arrive home before her 5.30 p.m. curfew,

her mother Valerie Carver, who also went by the name of Joe, arrive home before her 5.30 p.m. curfew, her mother Valerie Carver,

who also went by the name of Joe, grew concerned.

She had last been seen in town at around 4.45 p.m. riding her bicycle. Family members began searching for Jody, and around

7.05 p.m., Joe went to the Constantine Police Department to report her daughter missing.

Friends and other residents joined in the search, and because the town of Constantine is so small,

...