Something About Cari - Ep. 1: The Family Wedding
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What mysterious events led to Cari Farver missing the wedding?
The lights of the city skyline seemed to wink as they picked up the ripples on the river. And the muted hum of city sounds drifted across the Missouri to the Iowa side. As if those winking lights knew something. As if that hum was gossip. A jet plane descended to Eppie Airfield.
Broke the spell. Because, of course... Cities don't really know secrets or when something is about to happen. Though something certainly was. Any minute now. It was unusually mild for Midwest evening so late in autumn. Snow was sparse and threadbare in the park on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. It was the first week of December in the year of our Lord 2015, just past 6.30 p.m., Quite dark now. And then... No question what that was. It was followed by this.
911, we have a severe emergency. Oh yeah, I've been shot in the leg.
It was a woman, in pain obviously. She told the 911 operator she had come to the park alone, in her car.
How are you in the park, ma'am? The woman said the bullet had gone clean through her thigh, in one side and out the other.
A through-and-through is what first responders call that kind of wound, so a quick response would be crucial.
And the shooter or shooters?
Long gone, said the woman. An attacker roaming free with a gun in a city park? Well, that gets some immediate attention. So the dispatcher quickly called in squad cars from the Council Bluffs Iowa Police Department.
An agency assist came from across the river.
The helicopter from the Omaha PD was in the air with its spotlight scouring a city park the size of 150 football fields for any sign of a suspect. Back and forth it flew, looking for whoever had fired the shot. Looking, essentially, for a drop of water in a pitch black pond.
How many people were there? Oh, I don't know. I only heard one.
about whom the victim offered at least one clue.
Do you know if it's a male or a female? It's a female.
The shooter was a woman. The fact that flew in the face of all those statistics that law enforcement collects about gun violence.
Officers arrived.
This is a recording from their dash cam.
Where'd she go? Who is it? Who is it?
asking their questions as the victim was bundled into an ambulance. Did she run down the trail? And why fire at this victim, an unassuming mother of two who'd made her living as the owner of a business that cleaned houses? She had just gone to get five minutes peace in a quiet place and got a bullet in the leg. She would live, by the way, but the shooter?
Okay, we need to know which way she went.
Yes, and well, we imagine them looking for a woman with a gun in the dark in that giant park by the river, across from the hum of the city with its sparkling towers. A mystery as opaque as the night-black river began finally to reveal itself in all its confounding weirdness. Had you ever encountered a thing quite that elaborate before? No, nothing like this. This is a unique case, to say the least. Here was harassment, stalking, assault, arson, and of course, murder.
All I heard was, open up police.
What was that like?
Traumatizing.
How did Cari's relationship with her son Max impact the story?
I was freaked out.
And of all the smart investigators who worked on the case couldn't connect the dots. Well, perhaps it was understandable. Detective 101 rarely covers this sort of diabolical scheming. But whatever the reason, it went on and on and on for years. You're on edge as to what's going to happen next. Until that night by the river.
This night.
Finally. it began to make some sort of sense. The best part of it was being able to tell her, we've arrested somebody for the murder of your daughter. That was what made working this whole case worth it. I'm Keith Morrison, and this is Something About Carrie, the podcast from Dateline. Episode 1, The Family Wedding. To begin... Three years before that shooting in the park, the question was simple and urgent. Where was she? It was a question that 14-year-old Max Farber had been asking for days now. About his mom. There was a family wedding to attend in Des Moines, Iowa. Max's uncle was getting married. Max was to be an usher. Third week of November, 2012.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What mysterious events led to Cari Farver missing the wedding?
0:05–4:50
2
How did Cari's relationship with her son Max impact the story?
4:50–8:37
3
What clues did family members find regarding Cari's disappearance?
8:37–11:52
4
How did Cari's mental health history influence her actions?
11:52–15:20
5
What role did the mysterious man, Dave, play in Cari's life?
15:20–19:17
6
How did the investigation into Cari's disappearance unfold?
19:17–23:51
7
What shocking revelations did detectives discover about Cari and Dave?
23:51–27:01
8
What are the implications of Cari's story for understanding mental health?
27:01–34:03