Steven B. Epstein - Evil at Lake Seminole

EVIL at

LAKE SEMINOLE

The Shocking True Story Surrounding the Disappearance of Mike Williams

STEVEN B. EPSTEIN

Black Lyon Publishing, LLC

EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE: The Shocking True Story Surrounding the Disappearance of Mike Williams

Copyright 2020 by Steven B. Epstein

All rights reserved.

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Black Lyon Publishing, LLC

PO Box 567

Baker City, OR 97814

ISBN: 978-1-934912-91-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020935477

Published and printed in the United States of America.

Black Lyon True Crime

Praise for this book!

As few true crime books do today, Steve Epsteins EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE captures the humanity of victim Mike Williams, while laying out a solid case with journalistic acuity and grace. Epstein takes readers deeply into the facts, offering a thrilling and, at times, heartbreaking journey. All at once sympathetic and riveting. A new voice in true crime, Epstein is a must-read for fans of the genre.

M. William Phelps, New York Times bestselling author of 41 books including WHERE MONSTERS HIDE, DANGEROUS GROUND, and several history titles; and the creator and executive producer of Investigation Discoverys TO CATCH A KILLER and many other television series.

Steve Epsteins EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE is the unputdownable story of the investigation into Mike Williams disappearance while he was duck hunting on Floridas 37,000-acre reservoir. I was initially frightened by the forbidding alligators and ultimately terrified by the cold-blooded human beings at the heart of the story. This is a well-reported, gripping thriller about a case that baffled a family, a community, and law enforcement for nearly 20 years.

Rebecca Morris, New York Times bestselling true crime author of BOY MISSING: The Search for Kyron Horman, IF I CANT HAVE YOU: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance and the Murder of Her Children, and A KILLING IN AMISH COUNTRY: Sex, Betrayal and a Cold-Blooded Murder

A fascinating and riveting read. In EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE, Epstein takes you on an incredible excursion through the amazing developments in a 17-year quest for justice. You wont want to set it down until you reach the improbable conclusion.

Diane Fanning, author of 26 books including DEATH ON THE RIVER, MOMMYS LITTLE GIRL,

and WRITTEN IN BLOOD

Steve Epstein takes readers on an intense, harrowing journey to witness the EVIL AT LAKE SEMINOLE. Frighteningly unforgettable! A very exciting read I thoroughly enjoyed.

Dan Zupansky, host of True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

and author of TROPHY KILL: The Shall We Dance Murder

Steve Epstein takes you on a wild ride as he leads you through a 17-year murder investigation that has more twists and turns than an upside down rollercoaster. In his second true crime book, Epstein once again pairs in-depth research and eloquent prose with a fascinating story that promises to keep you turning the pages until the shocking conclusion.

Amanda Lamb, author of nine books including LOVE LIES, EVIL NEXT DOOR, and DEADLY DOSE

Steve Epstein lays out every relevant detail of this story, from Mike Williams humble beginnings and how they shaped him into the man he became to the long-awaited resolution of the confounding 17-year mystery surrounding his disappearance. Epstein effectively describes what happened along the way until the truth finally boiled over, all while giving praise to the one individual who kept pursuing justice in spite of the massive toll it took on her. I was locked into the story with every flip of the page.

Tony Holt, founder and former host of the Sun Crime State podcast and reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

For Benjamin, Madeline, Enzo, Tucker, and Thomas Dream big. Go chase. With everything you have.

Preface

I had time to kill. My 14-year-old son, Thomas, had just completed his first high school football gamean away game. It would be at least 45 minutes before his team bus would make it across town to his school, and for him to emerge from the locker room. How would I occupy my time?

By that late August evening, my first book, Murder on Birchleaf Drive: The True Story of the Michelle Young Murder Case, had been out less than three months. I already had several book signings under my belta brand new experience. I enjoyed interacting with readers and seeing their expressions as I read from the book.

At a few of those events, I was asked a question I wasnt prepared to answer: Was I working on another book? Frankly, I was elated to have published one book and to be talking with real peopleother than my motherwho had actually read it. I wasnt quite ready to entertain the thought of writing another. Yet deep inside, I believed I could warm up to the idea if another story grabbed ahold of me the way the Michelle Young tragedy had.

In putting together the website for Murder on Birchleaf Drive, I had been surprised to learn how many different weekly podcasts focus on true crime. Dozens. I had listened to a few in the weeks before that fateful August eveningopen to being inspired. But nothing remotely interested me. As I waited for Thomas following his game, I randomly selected another episode and began to listen.

As I sat in my SUV in the Broughton High School parking lot, I found myself transfixed by what I was hearinga story completely unlike anything I had read or heard. A duck hunter had vanished without a trace, suicide note, or logical explanation. For nearly 20 years. The story was grippingfilled with mystery, intrigue, and suspense.

Darn, I thought to myself as I detected my son in my peripheral vision slowly approaching my vehicle. I still had nearly ten minutes left in the podcast. As we drove home and made small talkme complimenting him on his good play my mind was elsewhere. I didnt yet know how the story ended and desperately needed to find out.

I was nearly in panic-mode when we pulled into the garage at my homedying to learn what happened. As Thomas grabbed his backpack from the backseat, I decided to buy some time. Ill be in in just a minute, I told him, pressing play on my iPhone. Finally, I learned the shocking details that would bring the story to a close.

When I awoke the next morning, I was as certain as I had ever been about anything important in my life. Another story had indeed grabbed ahold of me, one even more mesmerizing than the one I had just written about. A mere 12 hours earlier, I didnt know anything about Mike Williams and had never heard of Lake Seminole. Yet here I was now, ready to fully immerse myself once again in the dark beauty of true crime.

Within three weeks, I had completed what would ultimately become Chapter 10, deciding to write what I considered to be the most haunting chapter first. (Spoiler alert: dont even consider jumping ahead to learn that chapters title. Youre not ready.) My body was literally tingling as the final words appearedalmost magicallyon my laptop screen. I shared the chapter with my wife Aletia that same evening, eager to learn whether she believed the story to be as powerful as I did. She did. There was no turning back. I was all in.

Yes, there was plenty of research still to be conducted. Thousands of pages of documents and court records to review. Dozens of interviews to undertake. Even a trip to Tallahassee, Florida to see various sites for myself and meet with people at the heart of this story. All of that would come in time. In the meantime, I was off to the races, words flowing from my brain through my fingers like water from a firehosemy laptop molding and shaping the story like a clay sculpture, day after day, week after week, month after month.