Welcome to Secrets True Crime, the Eric Cates and Gypsy Story.

I am your host Amber Sitten.

What is done in darkness will eventually come to light.

That is the purpose of this podcast.

To shine light on the story of Eric Cates,

his beloved dog Gypsy, and the town of Empire, Alabama.

Listener discretion is advised.

The subject matter may involve violence, sexual content, murder, and adult themes. It is not

suitable for younger listeners. This is episode 8 of a serial podcast and they are designed to be listened to in order.

Another big question that Eric's family had was what happened to Eric's things that were missing

from his truck. His keys were not found. Eric had at least one knife with him that day, and no knives were found in his truck.

We've mentioned Eric was last seen wearing a hat. His hat, nor any remnants of it, were found.

There were also some necklaces in Eric's truck. This part is a little confusing. One was a white gold necklace with a pendant that was a circle of diamonds.

Eric kept this necklace hanging from his rearview mirror.

Eric had some additional necklaces in his ashtray.

One had a silver infinity sign, and the chain on it had broken. There was also an

unmarked silver cross. Eric had recently bought a steel ball chain used for military dog tags from a military surplus store to put this cross on.

We don't believe the fire inside the vehicle was hot enough to melt these items, but even if it had been, the metal

wouldn't just evaporate.

There would be tell-tale remnants of the necklaces, the keys, and the knife.

While we don't yet know who took Eric's hat and knife, we do know who likely had at least

one of the necklaces. At the time of Eric and Gypsy's murder,

...