Robert Scott - The Girl in the Leaves

A hundred thoughts raced through Sarahs mind as she lay on the kitchen floor. What had happened to Kody? What had happened to her mom? And was this man going to kill her?

Sarahs shock was beginning to gradually make way for survival mode. She began to wonder what she had to do to stay alive. Should she try and talk to this man? Should she just stay silent?

He told her not to struggle or make any noise. If she did, he would kill her. He then blindfolded her, picked her up once again and took her down some stairs. Even though she couldnt see, she soon realized he had placed her into Stephanies Jeep. She could feel something in the backseat next to her, but she didnt know what it was...

PRAISE FOR ROBERT SCOTT AND HIS BOOKS

Compelling and shocking... [A] groundbreaking book.

Robert K. Tanenbaum

Fascinating and fresh... [A] fast-paced, informative read.

Sue Russell

Skillfully written... [Scott] has the ability to tell a true story with compassion and taste while grabbing and keeping the readers attention.

ReviewingTheEvidence.com

An excellent true crime writer.

True Crime Book Reviews

THE GIRL IN THE LEAVES

ROBERT SCOTT

WITH

SARAH MAYNARD

AND

LARRY MAYNARD

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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THE GIRL IN THE LEAVES

A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with Robert Scott

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley premium edition / January 2013

Copyright 2012 by Robert Scott.

Cover photo courtesy of the Knox County Sheriffs Office.

Cover design by Diana Kolsky.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 978-1-101-60094-8

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a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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Most Berkley Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales, promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Id like to thank my editor, Shannon Jamieson Vazquez, for all the help on this book, and my literary agent, Sharlene Martin. Id also like to thank the Knox County Sheriffs Office and Knox County Prosecutors Office. And special thanks go to Larry, Tracy and Sarah Maynard.

ROBERT SCOTT

Contents

ONE

Hes a Real Weirdo

MOUNT VERNON, OHIONOVEMBER 2010

Relations between Dawna Davis (whose name would often be spelled as Donna in future accounts and articles) and her next-door neighbor on Columbus Road in Mount Vernon, Ohio, had not always been strained. Dawna, the mother of three children, initially liked the young man, thirty-year-old Matthew Hoffman, who resided next door in a two-story house with his girlfriend and her eight-year-old son. In fact, Dawnas eldest son often went over to Hoffmans house to play with the girlfriends son. The two boys would toss a football around, watch TV and just generally hang out together after school.

Dawnas friend, Leanda Cline, agreed that Hoffman was friendly in the beginning and referred to him as a nice guy. Leandas son, who would also play over at Hoffmans house, told her that Hoffman let the boys jump around on a trampoline, and made popcorn for them too. They would often sit in front of the TV watching a DVD and eating popcorn.

Dawna and Leandas sons also had sleepovers at Hoffmans house, and on occasion, Hoffman would give Dawnas fourteen-year-old daughter rides home from the movie theater in Mount Vernon. All in all, he seemed just as Leanda had indicated, a nice guy.

But near the end of summer 2010, Matt Hoffman began to change. He became more irritable and moody. One day, his dogs suddenly disappeared. Dawna later said, I believe in my heart that he killed those dogs. He started pulling back and acting strange. I dont know what set him off. He was just getting more and more weird.

Around the same time, Hoffman began setting squirrel traps around his yard. Dawna learned from his girlfriend that Hoffman was catching the squirrels, taking them into his house, butchering them and eating them. On occasion, the girlfriend said, he would even barbecue the squirrels. It freaked Dawna out. She said later, We liked those squirrels and used to feed them. And then he killed them!

Dawna quit letting her daughter ride home from the movie theater with Hoffman when she learned he was taking the girl on indirect routes home. These roads ran through sparsely populated areas of woods away from the main logical route back to Columbus Road. Dawnas daughter told her, We didnt take the main roads back home, we took back roads. It made me uncomfortable.

Dawna also quit letting her son play next door. Hoffman was just becoming too weird in her estimation. Hoffmans girlfriend was changing as well. She had initially been talkative and outgoing, but as autumn came along in 2010, she became more reserved and quiet. In fact, by that point, whenever she came over to see Dawna, it was almost as if she had to sneak out of Hoffmans house so that he wouldnt know that she was there. It got so bad that Dawna and Leanda later said that they began to fear for her safety. We knew something was wrong.

It was more than just a gut feeling on their part. In mid-October an incident brought to light just how much Matt Hoffman had changed from the nice guy next-door neighbor into something else.

Hoffmans girlfriend had finally had enough of his increasingly bizarre behavior and she and her son moved out of his house. She came back one day to pick up some items that shed left behind, and almost immediately she and Hoffman got into an argument. As it became more heated, she started to leave, but he pushed her over a chair and knocked her to the floor. Then he began choking her.