((So it looks like this might be finished sometime after Halloween but I will try my best to finish it by then.))
Burkettsville wasn't that far away so they were not on the plane for a long time. But they did have enough time to discuss the facts of the case. There wasn't that much to go on since the kids had only been missing one night. "So what do we have?" Hotch started in his usual business-like tone.
"We have 5 missing teens who were last seen going camping. There is no evidence to suggest they went unwillingly or have come to any kind of harm. It doesn't seem to me like there is much of a case." Jenny responded. Prentiss was right there with her.
"Jenny is right. We have no evidence of foul play. A bunch of teens, they probably went camping and had a bit too much to drink." Prentiss said.
"It isn't necessarily how they disappeared but where." Rossi countered. "I am sure you are all well aware of the legend surrounding Burkettsville and the surrounding woodland?"
"The Blair Witch. I've hear some of the theories surrounding the three missing kids, Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, and Joshua Leonard" JJ said. "Pretty gruesome stuff."
"Yes. Dave and I have seen some of the footage recovered." Hotch said. He gave Rossi a sideways glance.
"Terrifying stuff." Rossi said, shaking his head.
"It's considered a research project that went horribly wrong." Reid said. They could all tell he was about to tell them the story and so remained quiet. "The three teens were following the instructions from the various local that they had interviewed and so never really had a clear idea of where they were going. It then resulted in them losing the map and were wandering around in the woods.
"They had a number of 'supernatural' encounters during the days that they were camping. Stick men handing from the trees, noises in the night, and bags of ritualistic items around the tents." Jenny added, remembering what she had read online.
"So we think that it is the same 'thing' that happened before?" Prentiss asked generally.
"It seems like a safe assumption. The circumstances are similar as well as the ages of the victims." Morgan said.
"Since the history of the town is so well known the press with try and sensationalize the case. We are leaving now so that we can get a handle on the press before they start speculating." Hotch said. It was true. Once the national news stations got wind of the story people would converge on Burkettsville, making their job near impossible. No one said it but they were all thinking it. How many people already knew?
They arrived at the station a short while later. There were already reporters waiting outside eager for a scoop. They were bombarded by reporters shouting questions as soon as they stepped out of the SUVs. 'Why have the FBI been called in?', 'Any knew on the missing teens?', 'Are there any links between this disappearance and the previous one?' They stuck to the 'No comment' routine and pushed their way through the gathering crowd. It wasn't much calmer inside the police station. Phones were constantly ringing and officers were shouting to each other to try to be heard over the phones. Each one getting louder than the last. Panic had set in.
The lead detective spotted them and walked over. "You must be the FBI guys. Boy and I glad to see you. I got my hands full with this one and not enough available officers." he said, clearly annoyed and out of breath. "Name's Sheriff Thomas. If you would like to follow me and we can gt you caught up." he said. He turned away and led them to the conference room, which was the command centre of the investigation. "Right. Here you are. If you need anything else ask one of the officers and they will get it for you." Sheriff Thomas said.
"Thank you Sheriff. We will get started right away." Hotchner said. The Sheriff nodded his head then went to rejoin the chaos. "Alright team our first priority is to create a time line of their last movements. The main problem we have is that we don't know where to begin the search." Hotch instructed. They team took the seats around the conference table that was situated in the middle of the room.
"Okay well lets start with the day before they disappeared, the 29th. It might be that they deviated from a normal routine or went somewhere out of their comfort zones." Morgan said.
"The local PD spoke to the school which noted no unusual behaviour that Friday. They went to school and attended all of their lessons." Jenny said.
"Their friends from the various groups told the police that they were talking a lot to each other about their plans for the weekend." JJ said.
"So the camping trip was planned, and not a spur of the moment decision. What does that tell us?" Rossi said, always teaching.
"They were probably discussing it at least a week in advance so that they would have time to gather everything that they would need." Reid said.
"This day and age they probably communicated the plans through text messaging or email." Prentiss concluded. "Did the police seize their computers?" They all looked around at each other hoping the other had the answer.
"I will go and ask one of the officers." Jenny said. She felt that she should since she was still the new guys. She left to go and find an officer.
"Why would they decide to go camping this weekend?" Prentiss asked aloud.
"The thrill. The legend talks of some invisible witch with supernatural powers. Halloween is traditionally the day when the supernatural is at it's strongest. So going out to the 'hunting' ground of the Blair Witch would be like the ultimate thrill. Statistically tomorrow night has the highest probability of having an experience with the supernatural." Reid said. They all looked at him, and Morgan gave him a teasing grin.
"Of course you would know that kid." Morgan teased. Reid looked down at his hands, slightly embarrassed, wishing slightly that Jenny was there to make him feel better. As if responding to his thought Jenny reappeared carrying 5 laptop sized boxes. The police had picked up the laptops.
"All of the teens had laptops but the tech guys didn't have enough time to process them yet. However we were given complete access." Jenny said. She laid out all the boxes carefully on the table. Morgan took out his phone and dialed Garcia.
"You have reached the Oracle of Quantico. Keeper of all knowledge. Speak and be heard." Garcia answered in her usual cheery way.
"Hey baby girl." Morgan answered. The other were quickly unpacking and turning on the laptops. They were all password locked. "I need you to work me some magic."
"Your wish is my command. What do you need?" Garcia said.
"I got 5 password protected laptops here. Can you get us access?" Morgan asked.
"Easy." Garcia said. Morgan could hear the sound of her lightening fast typing on the line. Rossi, Hotch, JJ and Prentiss each had a laptop while Reid and Jenny shared one. They all watched as Garcia accessed each of the computers. "Okay my children. You have access to the computers and be careful of the witch. Over and Out." Garcia said, hanging up before Morgan had a chance to speak. There was a kind of silence in the room for a few moments, except the clicking of keys. Jenny first accessed Elizabeth's email.
"It looks as though there was a group email communication that was started on the 20th by Elizabeth." Jenny said. She allowed Reid to scan through it since he would probably, most likely finished before her.
"This email is the earliest but it sounds as though they had already thought of the idea and are just planning more in depth." Reid said.
"It seems a bit too early to be planning something like this and not to have told anyone." Prentiss said.
"The emails themselves seem incomplete and not fully explained. It is most likely that they would be verbally discussing it or through the use of mobile phones." Reid explained.
"The officer was telling me that none of their mobile phones were found at their homes so they must be with them." Jenny said.
"If they most likely have their phones then why can we not get in contact with them?" JJ asked.
"They might be out of the service area, not charged, or simply switched off." Hotch said. "Elizabeth seems to be the ringleader of the camping idea so we will find more useful information on her computer. Jenny and Reid, see if you can figure out where they were heading. JJ, you and I will gather up the press. We will hold a press conference so that they will not spread speculation." Hotch instructed. He followed JJ out of the conference room.
"Rossi, Prentiss and I will go help the officers deal with the phones." Morgan said. Rossi nodded and they left the room. Jenny turned to face Reid.
"I will sort through her email and computer history. You see what you can find about the original case." Jenny suggested. Reid knew as well as her that it was the most logical course of action. Jenny took his silence as a yes and began to read the later emails. Reid took out his phone and speed dialed Garcia.
"Speck to me boy wonder." Garcia answered. Reid smiled, he enjoyed the way Garcia greeted them in different ways.
"Hey Garcia. Can you a run a search for disappearances in Burkettsville and surrounding cities since 1994?" Reid asked. He could just imagine the frustration on Garcia's face as he asked.
"Of course boy wonder. Call when I have something." Garcia ended the call with a click. Reid placed his phone on the table, knowing that she would be calling again very soon.
"Okay So it is looking like we were right and this was some sort of plan to have a Blair Witch encounter. Why, I have no idea. I thought that the Blair Witch was just a myth. I knew some teens went missing but I also know that it was just speculation." Jenny said. She leaned back in her chair and looked past Reid.
"All it takes is one person to create the name. In reality the legend started before the disappearance of those three kids. They had gone into the woods creating a documentary about the witch." Reid said.
"So does anyone remember the actual legend or stories?" Jenny asked. Reid shrugged his shoulder. Jenny continued to scroll through later emails. "Hey this may be something." Jenny said. Reid sat forward. "They don't specifically say it but they talk a lot about that case and how cool it would be to 'follow in their footsteps', what do you think they meant?"
"It sounds to me like they were going to following along the same path through the woods that the three missing kids took." Reid said. He moved closer to Jenny so that he could also see the computer screen. Jenny brought up the internet history and they scrolled slowly through the most recent activity.
"Looks like they did their research. The history for about the past week is all about the Blair Witch and the legend surrounding her." Jenny stated. Reid mentally stored what she had said but he didn't really register what she had said. He focused his mind on the content of each of the web pages that appeared in the history. Then he found what he was looking for.
"Wait! Click on that one." Reid said, pointing to a link. Jenny silently obeyed. "It's a map. But the looks of it, it is probably the original one."
"Well at least we know where they were planning to go. That's a start. We need to tell Hotch." Jenny said. She got up and walked over to the side of the press conference as discretely as she could. She gave JJ a meaningful glance. JJ understood, and she whispered something quietly to Hotch, who ended the press conference after he glanced at her. Jenny waited inside for Hotch and JJ.
"What have you got?" Hotch asked.
"A map. Elizabeth managed to find the original map that was used in the first case." Jenny said.
"Show me." Hotch said. Jenny nodded and led them back to the conference room where Reid was still studying the screen.
"It must be the map that they lost. Form the video evidence of that case, the missing map was a reason why they couldn't find their way home." Hotch said.
"Now that we have the map shouldn't we be able to locate them. Send in rescue teams." JJ said. Hotch straightened up, his eyes still transfixed on the screen.
"No that will draw too much attention and that is that last thing we need." Hotch responded. "Go get Prentiss, Morgan and Rossi." JJ did as he instructed and returned moments later with the rest of the team.
"What's up Hotch?" Morgan asked.
"Looks like we are going camping." Hotch said. The team looked at him, shocked.