MARA (V.O.):That “cleaning house” happened again and again. Listeners who grew up in Jackson County have been writing in.
One of you, user BlueRidgeWatcher, sent this:
“My church put up a whole bulletin board for Caroline. Pictures, candles, the flyer. It was gone by the next Sunday. No one admitted taking it down.”
And then there’s the roadside memorial.
People left flowers and candles near the spot where Caroline’s car was found.
Those kept disappearing, too.
The sheriff’s office eventually set up a camera, hoping to catch whoever was tearing down Caroline’s memory one paper and petal at a time.
No luck.
Whoever was doing it either knew exactly when that camera was rolling… or got very, very lucky.
We’re not the first podcast to talk about the missing flyers.
But there’s something Vanished in the Valley hasn’t connected.
Because the more we talk to people in Sylva, the more one name keeps coming up.
Not Caroline’s.
Not her ex.
Her son.
Davie.
David Mercer Jr.
[Beat]
Davie was barely a year old when Caroline disappeared. A baby caught in the middle of a tug-of-war.
On one side: the Simms family. Caroline’s parents. Grandparents who, according to everyone we spoke to, adored that little boy and were ready to raise him if they had to.
On the other side: David Mercer, Caroline’s ex, and his parents. Wealthy. Well connected. Very clear that they saw Davie as theirs.
The courts were trying to sort it out when Caroline vanished.
And that’s where our next voice comes in.
We’re calling him “Rick.” He worked construction for Mercer back then, when the fight over Davie was at its loudest.
[Cut to pre-recorded interview – slightly rough mic]
RICK:“Look, everybody knew he was wound tight about that kid. You’d be on a site, and he’d be on the phone just… losing it. You’d hear him from halfway across the job. ‘She is not takin’ my boy out of this county,’ ‘I’ll see her in court,’ all that.”
MARA:“Did he ever say anything that felt… more than angry?”
RICK(hesitates):“Yeah. Once. A couple of us were loading rebar when he came back from a call, red in the face. I asked if everything was okay.”
[Soft chair creak]
“He laughed. Not happy. Said, ‘She thinks she’s takin’ Davie to Knoxville with that new boyfriend? Over my dead body or hers.’”
