Barbie Townsend

What first struck me when they were walking, I was like, that's our cabin. That's our family cabin.

I was worried they were going to be inside. That's what I thought. Something went horribly wrong. Yeah, that was very disturbing.

There's all these outbuildings, boathouses and sheds, and all these little tiny buildings that could offer places for people to be. My thought was that Krista was being held in one of those. That's what I thought.

So your mind starts thinking, well, what about Krista? You know, where is she? What happened to her?

Is she going to be held hostage? Is she being tortured? Time is of the essence.

She was the youngest cousin, bright red hair. She was the baby of the family.

Krista was fun, energetic, creative. She just was very exuberant, very outgoing.

It seemed like something you read about not happening to our family. Somebody else, you read about that, something happening somewhere else to somebody else, and that was happening to our family.

We had this tiny little hope that she was alive somewhere.

Loved her a lot in life.

I was starting to have that like sinking feeling in my stomach, like something went wrong in the family. I don't know what.

I was happy for her that she found her person, and they were a really good team.

Definitely, definitely. You know, he would have his strengths and she would have her strengths, but they always worked together.

They poured themselves into their children. They did family nights, game nights. They would cook dinner, barbecue together. In spring 2021, Krista had sent a picture of them all standing together. She was so proud of him. Mitchell had been with his girlfriend at that time about seven years, and Chandler had been with Kat maybe two years, on and off.

In that picture, on Father's Day of 2021, standing next to Bart, he's got the brace on. His neck was injured. It was gonna affect his ability to walk. He might have a colostomy bag. He couldn't fly, so he couldn't go back to Florida for the job. Like, his whole life was gonna change because he had this fall.

Everything seems so evil. chilling and unbelievable.

that he's not anybody who I thought he was.

In that picture on Father's Day of 2021, standing next to Bart, he's got the brace on because he did go to the ER.

They showed the fireplace burning all night when he was trying to cremate the skulls of his parents. I almost got sick watching that.

What do you mean they're missing? I can't even comprehend what that means.

I would like to say it was relief. It really wasn't because it's still sad. It's still grotesque, everything about it. There was some closure for the family. To me, it was just and fair.

No remorse, no empathy, no love to his parents.

They would have given everything and anything to help him. They would have been there. That's the kind of people they were.

I would say you were a great mom.

She was recovering from some skin cancer, and so this was an important appointment for her.

No.

Something's really wrong. I don't know what and why and how, but something's really wrong.

This is where we hung out and collected rocks and played games. So this is early on. It's my dad. And that's the cabin in the background.

This is Krista.

Shock? I mean, fiery red hair.

And she was the youngest.

That was like the heart and soul of our extended family. The cabin was our way to get back together and be together. There was no phone, no indoor plumbing. Very rustic.

The cabin was where we would reunite.

I got an email from my cousin that said, please pray Bart and Krista are missing. And I remember thinking, What do you mean they're missing? I can't even comprehend what that means. And so we started calling cousins, you know, like, what's happening?

Nobody knew who that couple was. No phone numbers, no names, nothing. I mean, for them to drive up to the cabin with somebody that nobody even knew who they were, that was very odd. Where's the other couple? That was the other thing. Where's the other couple? Because no one's heard from them, whoever they are.

Yeah, your mind starts thinking all kinds of things.