The Unraveling — Sandy Beal E7

This is an iHeart podcast.

Lily is a proud partner of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for Lily's duets for type 2 diabetes campaign that celebrates patient stories of support.

Share your story at mountjaro.com/slash duets.

Mountjaro terzepatide is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar, glucose, and adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mount Jaro is not for use in children.

Don't take Mount Jaro if you're allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.

Stop and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or vision changes.

Serious side effects may include inflamed pancreas and gallbladder problems.

Taking Maljaro with a sulfinyl norrhea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

Tell your doctor if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be or taking birth control pills and before scheduled procedures with anesthesia.

Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and may cause kidney problems.

Once weekly Mount Jaro is available by prescription only in 2.55, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram per 0.5 milliliter injection.

Call 1-800-LILLIRX-800-545-5979 or visit mountjaro.lilly.com for the Mount Jaro indication and safety summary with warnings.

Talk to your doctor for more information about Mountjaro.

Mountjaro and its delivery device base are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Deborah had to have surgery.

I had hip surgery in November of 2024.

Her United Healthcare nurse Crystal checked on her.

We do a routine call after surgery and I could tell that she was struggling.

Deborah needed help.

My infection markers were through the roof.

And Crystal knew what to do.

I called the hospital and said she's coming in and got Deborah the help she needed.

Crystal and United Healthcare saved my life.

Hear more stories like Deborah's at UHC.com.

Benefits, features, and/or devices vary by plant area.

Limitation and exclusions apply.

I already love same-day delivery with shipped, but it's so much better since I signed up for Target Circle 360.

Why?

Because I no longer pay price markups from the majority of stores through Shipped.

Only a handful of alcohol retailers and items don't count.

That means no markups on groceries, pet food, even home goods and makeup.

So to recap, I have more time to catch up on life while someone shops for me and I spend less.

It's a win-win.

Order now at shift.com/slash 360.

Terms apply.

This is Jonas Knox from Two Pros and a Cup of Joe.

And on Fox One, now you can stream your favorite live sports so you can be there live for the biggest moments.

That means NFL Sundays, college football games, NASCAR, MLB postseason, and more.

With Fox One, you'll get it all live.

Edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping, high-octane moments, and that feeling like you're right there in the action.

Fox One, we live for live, streaming now.

This is Bowen Yang.

And Matt Rogers.

From Los Culturistas with Matt Rogers.

And Bowen Yang.

This episode of Los Culturistas is brought to you by Malibu.

501 shouldn't just mean the end of work, it should mean the beginning of fun.

Yes, with a Malibu cocktail, it's like a mini vacation without ever getting on a plane.

Because you deserve to unplug, disconnect, and live in the moment.

I love to enjoy cocktail with my friends at a local watering hole, a classier bar, or at home.

I'm going to say it, the beach could be an amazing place to drink.

Clock off with Malibu because life's too short not to do whatever tastes good.

Sip easy.

Enjoy Malibu responsibly.

Copyright 2025, imported by Perneau Ricard, USA, New York, New York.

Before we begin, please note: this series includes talk of suicide and sexual violence.

Please take care while listening.

So I had to be at a friend's house in Annapolis at six, and it was 3, and I'm like, I got time, and I have an address, so I'm going to go to his house.

And then I could say hello.

Douglas's house.

Douglas's house, right.

Kim has never forgotten about Doug, the married state trooper who was in a relationship with Sandy before her death.

In fact, she has amassed an impressive file on him.

She's paid for background checks on his name, studied his wife's Facebook page, researched the properties the couple own.

She even went to the trouble of requesting Doug's training records from the state police.

And she's done all this because of her suspicion that Doug knows why Sandy was in the poll yard that night.

She thinks he might have been with her because in the months before Sandy's death, they had an intimate relationship.

One that led, according to Sandy's writings, to a pregnancy and an abortion.

And on the night of her death, Sandy was dressed up like she was meeting someone for a date.

The medical examiner found, quote, numerous well-preserved spermatozoa inside her body.

And the location of Sandy's death, the poll yard, it was a local cop hangout a mile from where Doug worked.

In the car with Sandy was a letter for him.

As much as Kim has wanted answers from Doug, she has always been too afraid to reach out to him directly, worried about how he might react to her meddling.

But on her last trip to Maryland, she decided to pay him a visit.

So I'm driving down this little cul-de-sac,

and I'm thinking, you know, nothing.

I'm not nervous or anything.

And so I keep going, and there's this little dinky road because I see a house out in the woods.

So I've already gone down this wooded path.

I'm driving down this road and my brain must have registered the sign that said video surveillance.

Stapled to a tree trunk was a sign that warned visitors they were being recorded.

And then all of a sudden I see his house.

I trust my instincts.

And I just hit my brakes.

Now, because now I'm like, I'm going deeper into the woods and it's getting a little creepier.

And

so

I stop and I start thinking, okay, I'm getting, I'm like taking a little bit too much risk.

I'm going to back out.

So I back out and leave my hearts like racing.

Kim left without making contact with Doug.

Her courage had only taken her so far.

What Kim didn't know at the time was that Doug had recently had another unexpected visitor.

Just a few days earlier, a Prince George's County police detective showed up on Doug's doorstep, asking questions about Sandy.

From iHeartRadio, I'm Melissa Jeltson, and this is What Happened to Sandy Beale, an iHeart Original Podcast.

Chapter 7

The Unraveling

I'll come back to Doug later, but first I want to explain why Kim was in Maryland to begin with.

She had been invited to meet with a cold case detective, Bernie Nelson, at the Prince George's County Police Headquarters in Forestville.

Kim had never met Bernie before, but she'd known of him since 2006.

He's the one who answered her call when she first tried to get the police report.

And he's also the one, in 2019, who actually tracked it down, going to Detective Shyzelski's house to physically retrieve it.

I mean I've heard this man's name since 2006 and it's 2021

so that was kind of exciting that I was going to finally meet him.

He could have just blown me off but he didn't.

And so on a brisk morning in October Bernie and Kim finally met in person.

wearing masks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kim wasn't permitted to record their conversation, but she invited her sister along and she took diligent notes.

I've used these contemporaneous notes, interviews with Kim, and written responses from PG County to create this account of the meeting.

So this is 11 o'clock on Monday morning and he asks,

so how did all this podcast stuff happen?

And so he was very interested and

I encouraged him.

I'm like, I really think it's in your best interest to allow them to interview you because

he's stating, he goes, well, we don't think that we should have to do it because we've done our due diligence.

We've done everything that we can.

And the powers to be believe there's nothing else that we can do.

And I'm like, what?

How can you say you've done everything?

I've got all these questions and we've had questions for years.

Kim was excited.

but nervous.

A previous meeting with the state police years ago had left Kim feeling intimidated.

She brought with her a list of questions for Bernie so that she wouldn't forget what she wanted to say.

And this guy was calm and

was wanting to educate me on his part, on how they saw it.

Bernie told her that the department had 1,300 coal cases and very few staff to work them all, but he had taken the time to get familiar with Sandy's case.

He knew, for instance, about the ride-along notations in Sandy's calendar, the names and numbers of local police officers in her address books.

Kim told Bernie what she thought, that a number of cops had taken advantage of Sandy, pursuing inappropriate sexual relationships with the teen.

And to her surprise, he didn't dispute it.

He agreed that at the time, 77, the climate was not there for females to be police officers, and they didn't want her.

They did not want females to be there.

He agreed that all these officers were inappropriate.

None of their behaviors was becoming, and today they would have all been terminated, or at least they should have been, in his opinion.

And Nelson's going, I don't condone any of their behavior.

He was disgusted as we were talking.

And I just was floored that he was being so accountable.

Bernie told Kim that he understood why the Beale family was so suspicious of PG County police, given the circumstances.

And he came across as sincere to Kim.

I mean, he's like, I understand why you guys doubt everything.

He also credited Kim with the amount of stuff she'd been able to dig up on her own, acknowledging her fierce commitment to the case.

He said, you've done your homework.

He said, you did a good job with this.

And he's like, that's another reason that I wanted to follow through because I knew you're not going to let me go here.

While Bernie was telling Kim all of this, there was another cop in the room, Detective McDonald.

He remained fairly quiet throughout the meeting.

Kim didn't even know why he was there until he started telling her about his recent visit to Doug's house.

Just days earlier, Detective McDonald had surprised a retired state trooper at his home and questioned him about his involvement with Sandy.

I was able to confirm with PG County Police that this visit took place.

So McDonald called him outside the house and he said, I questioned him for an hour and a half.

An hour and a half?

That's a long time to visit with somebody.

According to McDonald, Doug admitted that he'd had a relationship with Sandy, but he downplayed its significance.

He said he did not know she was pregnant.

He did not know she had an abortion.

He didn't pay for any abortion.

Doug confirmed that the poll yard, where Sandy was found dead, was a local hangout for state troopers and a place Sandy had gone before.

The Beals, including Kim, had suspected this for years.

He told McDonald that Pepco Utility Yard was the common spot for Maryland state police that gathered, and it was called the 88.

Don't know what that means, but the spot was called the 88.

He said girls, including Sandy, would come and socialize with the cops.

He said it was kind of like a groupie thing, like they followed a band and that the cops would just scatter there.

But that was the extent of the information Doug would share about Sandy.

He denied being in the poll yard the night of Sandy's death or having anything to do with it.

He said he had not been in the poll yard that evening.

He said, I didn't know that she was dead until my supervisor brought me in a few days later.

He said, my supervisor reported to me and then I was questioned.

The Maryland State Police did interview him, made him do a polygraph.

Doug stated that after Sandy's death, his employer, the Maryland State Police, opened an internal investigation on his relationship with the teen.

He said he was polygraphed to determine if his actions violated the agency's code of conduct.

So Doug was questioned back then, but not by Prince George's County Police, who were investigating Sandy's unnatural death.

Rather, he had to answer to his employer.

who probably learned of the improper relationship from Detective Shyzelski.

All of this, it happened behind the Beale's back.

Joanne, Sandy's mom, was never informed about this investigation, despite the fact that she called the state police looking for Doug and expressed her concerns about the relationship.

I want to know what else they learned from him, and I'm sure it's stuff they didn't want me to know because it was going to hurt my feelings.

In Kim's eyes, Doug had always existed in this protected bubble, bubble, untouchable, living above the law.

Now, learning that he hadn't completely evaded scrutiny, that he was compelled to explain his relationship with Sandy on his front lawn no less, it left her feeling elated.

To be clear, Kim didn't believe that Doug told the whole truth, and she had so many more questions for him.

But it felt like a small victory that he had acknowledged and confirmed his relationship with Sandy.

Because this was something I'd tried to get him to do to no avail.

Doug never responded to my many letters and emails, even though I have an email tracker and I could tell that someone had read my messages often many times soon after I sent them.

But Doug wasn't able to ignore a detective on his doorstep.

And so, four decades after Sandy's death, he was forced to remember her.

Tired of spills and stains on your sofa?

WashableSofas.com has your back, featuring the Annibay Collection, the only designer sofa that's machine-washable inside and out, where designer quality meets budget-friendly prices.

That's right, sofas started just $699.

Enjoy a no-risk experience with pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and changeable slip covers made with performance fabrics.

Experience cloud-like comfort with high-resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing.

The sturdy steel frame ensures longevity, and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime.

Check out washable sofas.com and get up to 60% off your Anibay sofa, backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund.

No return shipping or restocking fees.

Every penny back.

Upgrade now at washablesofas.com.

Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Top reasons data nerds want to move to Ohio.

High-paying careers for business researchers, analysts, project managers, and more.

So many jobs, you can take your pick.

What else does the data say?

How about a bigger backyard, a shorter commute, and a paycheck that goes further?

So crunch the numbers and our world-famous pickles.

It all adds up: the career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Dive into the data at callohiohome.com.

Every business has an ambition.

PayPal Open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with business loans so you can expand and access to hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide.

And your customers can pay all the ways they want with PayPal, Venmo, Pay Later, and all major cards so you can focus on scaling up.

When it's time to get growing, there's one platform for all business, PayPal Open.

Grow today at PayPalOpen.com.

Loan subject to approval in available locations.

This is Jonas Knox from Two Pros and a Cup of Joe, and on Fox One now, you can stream your favorite live sports so you can be there live for the biggest moments.

That means NFL Sundays, college football games, NASCAR, MLB postseason, and more.

With Fox One, you'll get it all live.

Edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping, high-octane moments, and that feeling like you're right there in the action.

Fox One, we live for live streaming now.

Wanna bourbon with the story?

American-made wild turkey never compromises, aged longer for more bold, rich character.

Our pre-prohibition-style bourbons are distilled and barreled at a low proof to retain the most flavor.

Most bourbons aren't.

Well, we aren't most bourbons.

Wild Turkey 101 bourbon makes an old-fashioned to bold-fashioned for bold nights out or at home.

Now, that's a story worth telling.

Wild Turkey, trust your spirit.

Copyright 2025, Capari America, New York, New York.

Never compromise, drink responsibly.

The cold case detectives never explained to Kim why they visited Doug, and I can't say for sure because Prince George's County Police declined to make anyone available for an interview.

But my instinct is not that they suspected Doug of murder, but that they wanted to show the Beals that they'd done something.

Because despite the recent visit to Doug's house, The PG County Police Department was still convinced that Sandy died by suicide.

He stated that they believed that there was no foul play, that no further investigation needed to be done, and they didn't need to investigate anything further because they felt there was nothing criminal in nature.

Bernie told her that based on the forensic evidence at the scene of Sandy's death, it was indisputable that she died by suicide.

But Kim had seen all the same evidence as Bernie.

and had come to a dramatically different conclusion.

And we're going back and forth arguing.

And he's like, no, and so I pull out all my notes and I put them out there.

For years, Kim had been compiling what she believed were the most compelling pieces of evidence that cast doubt on the theory of suicide.

Now Kim went over each point one by one.

There was the gun discovered without any fingerprints.

There was the cardboard found under Sandy's tires.

which indicated to Kim that Sandy was trying to leave.

There was the fact that Sandy's body was discovered so so close to her boyfriend's place of work, and yet he was not interviewed by Prince George's County Police as part of the death investigation.

There was the sperm inside Sandy, sperm which could now be tested for DNA and could potentially solve the question of who was last with Sandy.

But most importantly, there was the strange location of the gunshot wound.

Why would Sandy, who was left-handed, reach across her body to shoot herself in the right side.

So we get into the trajectory part, and I told him that I didn't understand how one could shoot themselves in the manner that you're saying, and if she had, in fact, committed suicide.

And he goes, she was stepped, she was shot in the stomach.

I'm like, no.

Ever since I met Kim, she has described the bullet as having penetrated Sandy's right side and exited through the left side of her back.

Kim is not wrong, but when you look at the evidence a little more closely, a more nuanced picture emerges.

According to the autopsy report, the entrance wound was in Sandy's abdomen, less than three inches to the right of her midline, not in her flank, as Kim had described it.

It's a slight difference, but an important distinction when it comes to visualizing how someone would inflict such an injury.

To be told that she was mistaken about the location of the entrance wound, even by a small distance, was genuinely confusing for Kim.

And she, and I said, but she couldn't have possibly, she couldn't have, she was, couldn't be a contortionist and do this.

And he's like, Kim,

she took the gun, she braced it on the steering wheel,

and she used her thumbs, and she put it to her stomach because it was a direct shot to the stomach.

It went through right here and it came right out

behind

her back.

The trajectory of the bullet had never been explained to Kim in this way.

Instead of traveling from right to left, Bernie showed Kim that the path of the bullet really moved from front to back.

There was a deviation of about five inches, but that could be accounted for by the angle of Sandy's body or the angle of the gun or a combination of the two.

And he says,

But there was gunpowder on the steering wheel.

And I'm like, what?

And it was kind of like this thing came at me where all of a sudden things were becoming clear.

And I'm like, what do you mean there was gunpowder on the steering wheel?

And he goes, yes, there was a spray of gunpowder on her hands, the gun

on the steering wheel and forward.

And I'm like, oh, God.

Kim had never heard about gunpowder being on the steering wheel of Sandy's car.

The detail wasn't in the police report, and no one had ever mentioned it to her before.

But now she imagined it.

What he said was that's how it got on her hands, that everything goes backwards, that this the gunpowder sprays back.

That's what they said.

And I don't know anything about it, but as he's telling me this, my whole body's going, oh God, this is, you know, it was the first time I was able to see that it's a possibility.

And I just was like, I

started crying, and I, we only had masks on, so all I could see was his eyes, and his eyes were watering up, too.

At that moment, Kim's certainty in the facts that she had been repeating for so many years started to break apart.

It was a disorienting and destabilizing feeling.

She was able to glimpse an alternative version of events for Sandy's death that made just as much sense as the one she had believed for so long.

After Kim and her sister left the meeting, they drove immediately to the poll yard where Sandy had died.

They sat in the car, their heads buzzing with the information they'd just received.

And it was here that Kim's sister began talking.

We went straight from there to Pepco Utility Yard to just kind of like debrief and

chill and look.

And she just got very sad.

She's like, I wish that I just knew.

I wish that I could have just told her that this too shall pass and this doesn't have to be, but I know exactly what she was going through if she was sitting in that car by herself.

Kim's sister confided that she had been in Sandy's position before.

She's too had thoughts of suicide a number of times during her life.

Kim later described this moment to me as one of the most vulnerable she'd ever shared with her sister.

Kim listened to her sister talk while looking out at the pole polyard.

She'd visited the location nearly a dozen times as part of her investigation into Sandy's death, and she'd pictured all the ways Sandy could have died at the hands of another.

Now she saw the scene through her sister's eyes.

Just like Kim, I can tell you that the desire to commit suicide is really hard and it's not a pleasant place to be and I know exactly what she was tormented with at that moment.

Life's messy.

We're talking spills, stains, pets, and kids.

But with Anibay, you never have to stress about messes again.

At washable sofas.com, discover Anibay Sofas, the only fully machine washable sofas inside and out, starting at just $699.

Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics.

That means fewer stains and more peace of mind.

Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers, allowing you to refresh your style anytime.

Need flexibility?

Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa effortlessly.

Perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes.

Plus, they're earth-friendly and built to last.

That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch.

Upgrade your space today.

Visit washable sofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life.

That's washable sofas.com.

Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Top reasons your dog wants you to move to Ohio.

Amazing dog parks to stretch your legs.

All four of them.

Dog-friendly patios.

Even gourmet hot dogs loaded with the good stuff.

Bone appetite.

And Ohio has so many high-paying jobs, you'll be top dog in no time.

Jobs in technology, engineering, science, advanced manufacturing, and more.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Go to callohiohome.com.

Every business has an ambition.

PayPal Open is the platform designed to help you grow into yours with business loans so you can expand and access to hundreds of millions of PayPal customers worldwide.

And your customers can pay all the ways they want with PayPal, Venmo, Pay Later, and all major cards so you can focus on scaling up.

When it's time to get growing, there's one platform for all business, PayPal Open.

Grow today at PayPalopen.com.

Loan subject to approval in available locations.

This is Jonas Knox from Two Pros and a Cup of Joe.

And on Fox One, now you can stream your favorite live sports so you can be there live for the biggest moments.

That means NFL Sundays, college football games, NASCAR, MLB postseason, and more.

With Fox One, you'll get it all live.

Edge of your seat plays, jaw-dropping, high-octane moments, and that feeling like you're right there in the action.

Fox One, we live for live, streaming now.

Want a bourbon with the story?

American-made wild turkey never compromises.

Aged in American oak with the darkest char.

Our pre-prohibition style bourbons are distilled and barreled at a low proof to retain the most flavor.

Most bourbons aren't.

Well, we aren't most bourbons.

Wild Turkey 101 bourbon makes an old-fashioned or bold-fashioned for bold nights out or at home.

Now that's a story worth telling.

Wild Turkey, trust your spirit.

Copyright 2025, Capari America, New York, New York.

Never compromise.

drink responsibly.

I was in Spain on vacation when all of this was happening, and my phone lit up with a text from Kim.

She had gone right from the poll yard to the airport, and as she waited for her flight back to Texas, she gulped down a glass of wine, and she texted me this line, quote, I think she committed suicide.

When I read this, I was stunned.

I had told Kim a lot of information over the last few months that complicated the story she believed about Sandy's death.

She took it all in stride, but her confidence in her stance remained strong.

Now she had completely reversed her position, abandoning a belief that had driven her for so long.

This belief, it was a part of Kim.

It dictated how she spent her free time.

It reached into her professional life and informed how she identified with her clients.

It molded her personality.

How could a single meeting change her mind?

What could Bernie have said or done to persuade her?

I mean, look, think about, you know, yourself and what you believe about this story, right?

Or like, what would it take to convince you of a different narrative?

And I think when you think about it that way, you realize that, you know, getting entrenched in a system of beliefs is actually shockingly easy like that's what we do as human beings stephen sloman is a professor of cognitive linguistic and psychological sciences at brown university he studies how people think how do you actually change minds

the traditional way to think about it is that if you just see enough evidence then finally you'll change your mind.

I think it's very clear that's false.

In fact, in the literature, there are people who propose what are called backfire effects.

You take people who feel strongly about an issue and you show them evidence that's inconsistent with their view.

And in some conditions, people come to feel even more strongly the way they felt before, despite the evidence.

If you bombard someone with information that challenges their beliefs, they're likely to double down on their original stance, but listen to them, really listen, and the opposite might happen.

Research shows that people who are genuinely listened to feel safer in the conversation and experience less anxiety.

As a result, they're less defensive and better at seeing both sides of an argument.

And they walk away from the conversation with a more nuanced perspective.

But if we're talking about how to approach an individual to change their mind, well, the first thing you do is you acknowledge where that person's coming from, right?

You don't have to agree with it, but you have to give the person the sense that you understand them and you understand their values, right?

If you can acknowledge their most sacred values first, that's a really good entryway.

Then the person feels respected.

and feels like they're talking to someone who understands them.

So that's step one.

Hearing this, it sounded almost exactly like what Bernie did.

Kim told me how he acknowledged that PG County police had mistreated Sandy and how wrong it was.

He didn't try to minimize it or shrug it off as every other police officer had in the years Kim had been asking questions.

Step two.

is not to enforce your own view on the person.

What you have to do is sort of elicit, you have to be kind of platonic about it.

That is, you have to elicit that person's perspective and then start asking them questions so that they can see themselves where the inconsistencies are in their story.

And then, if you can fill them in, you might very slowly, gradually be able to sort of turn the corner and allow them to integrate the information with a different narrative, a new narrative.

I thought of Sandy's gunshot wound.

Kim had walked into the meeting believing one thing about its trajectory and was shown gently that she was mistaken.

I wondered if that moment opened the door to her being able to see other possibilities.

Narratives, you know, have teeth that sink into all aspects of our lives, especially when they concern really important things like the death of a child.

You have all of this knowledge that's kind of sitting together in this tight little story.

And you have to loosen up the whole thing.

And then when it falls apart, it falls apart as a whole and reshapes as a whole.

What Kim experienced in that meeting with Bernie may best be described as an epiphany.

And I don't think it was the individual revelation of gunpowder on the steering wheel that triggered this change.

I think it has a lot more to do with how she was treated during the meeting and what Bernie was able to offer her.

Recognition, acknowledgement, a sympathetic ear.

I was heard

and I was disarmed with his empathy and his

compassion.

I just, I mean, I, I, I just was blown away.

And then, I don't know for whatever reason, maybe it was his demeanor and the way he was presenting it opposed to how it was presented in the past.

Kim's previous experience with Prince George's County Police was dotted with contentious interactions, instances where she was brushed off or treated as a nuisance.

All the things she'd found suspicious, Sandy's address books, the ride-alongs, her close connections to local police officers, were dismissed as insignificant.

And Kim was made to feel as if she was losing it, seeing things that weren't there.

For the first time, a PG County police officer acknowledged that she was justified in her suspicions.

Sandy's involvement with police was relevant.

It did matter.

And Bernie went so far as to say that it may have contributed to Sandy's decision to take her own life.

I saw it was focused on these eyes and his eyes were

just kind.

And he cared and it was like he could see the pain and he could even, I mean, he felt the pain.

He wasn't in tears, but he just had those eyes, and they were so compassionate that it was, there was a connection of, you really got to get, it was like, you really have to believe me.

It was like he was almost begging me,

you know, almost get yourself out of this misery that you're in because it's just the truth.

When Kim texted me, quote, I think she committed suicide, it was a bold statement.

And in our following conversation, she sounded confident that she now knew the truth.

But letting go of a core belief after all those years is not a linear process.

There were days, minutes, hours where her suspicions resurfaced and her doubts rushed back in, only to later subside, like a pendulum swinging back and forth.

She texted me about the experience.

Quote, I find myself shifting often from knowing she was killed and grieving how much she was really hurting.

Kim was undergoing the painstaking process of rebuilding her understanding of Sandy's death after her tightly wound belief had started to unravel.

I'm still struggling with the transition of changing the words from killed to took her life or whatever.

That's different because it does, I still have that resistance in my head to it.

I don't want to believe that that's the truth.

But I do know that what she was facing was really horrible.

How do you feel about letting some of that stuff go?

I feel like I let her down, but I feel like a fool, but I still have questions.

I feel like I wasted your time and I feel like I wasted the Beatles' time because it just felt like a...

Why did you make this into something that it wasn't?

I don't know.

That's what I've been struggling with.

After Kim flew home to Texas, she knew she had to tell the rest of the Beals what she now believed about Sandy's death.

But she didn't want to do it over the phone.

She couldn't bear the thought of having four individual conversations where she tried to put into words what had happened during her meeting with Bernie.

And so she packed her bags once again and booked a flight to Maine.

Before leaving, she penned an email to Bernie to say thank you.

He wrote back right away.

Here's Kim reading some of his email.

And as I said before, I'm very sorry about what happened to Sandy.

She was put through far too much by people who should have known better and whom she trusted and looked up to.

It is shameful.

and has caused a young lady with a promising future to die at a very young age.

I hope that answered your question satisfactory and please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions.

Have a safe trip.

What happened on that trip is on our next and final episode.

We've come a long way with this.

You have

dug and dug and dug and dug.

So in my mind

I think we've come to the end of the road.

Win to lose a draw.

What Happened to Sandy Beale is hosted by me, Melissa Jeltson.

It's written and produced by me and Katrina Norvell.

The podcast is edited by Abu Safar.

Sound design by Aaron Kaufman.

Jason English is our executive producer.

Research and production assistants by Marissa Brown.

To find out more about my investigation, follow me on Twitter at Quasimato.

That's Q-U-A-S-I-M-A-D-O.

Thanks so much for listening.

Time for a sofa upgrade?

Visit washable sofas.com and discover Anibay, where designer style meets budget-friendly prices, with sofas starting at $699.

Anibay brings you the ultimate in furniture innovation with a modular design that allows you to rearrange your space effortlessly.

Perfect for both small and large spaces, Anibay is the only machine-washable sofa inside and out.

Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics that make cleaning easy.

Liquid simply slides right off.

Designed for custom comfort, our high-resilience foam lets you choose between a sink-in feel or a supportive memory foam blend.

Plus, our pet-friendly stain-resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years.

Don't compromise quality for price.

Visit washable sofas.com to upgrade your living space today with no risk returns and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get up to 60% off plus free shipping and free returns.

Shop now at washable sofas.com.

Offers Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Drew and Sue and Eminem's Minis.

And baking the surprise birthday cake for Lou.

And Sue forgetting that her oven doesn't really work.

And Drew remembering that they don't have flour.

And Lou getting home early from work, which he never does.

And Drew and Sue using the rest of the tubes of Eminem's Minis as party poppers instead.

I think this is one of those moments where people say, it's the thought that counts.

M ⁇ Ms, it's more fun together.

Top reasons data nerds want to move to Ohio.

High-paying careers for business researchers, analysts, project managers, and more.

So many jobs, you can take your pick.

What else does the data say?

How about a bigger backyard, a shorter commute, and a paycheck that goes further?

So crunch the numbers and our world-famous pickles.

It all adds up.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Dive into the data at callohiohome.com.

Since 1983, Nissan has been building award-winning vehicles right here in America.

And this summer, they're making it easier to drive one home.

No new tariffs, just lower MSRPs on the Rogan Pathfinder.

So you can get the car you want at a price that feels right.

But don't wait.

These deals are only here for a limited time and while supplies last.

See why Nissan is number one for new vehicle quality among mainstream brands.

Learn more at nissanusa.com.

For JD Power 2025 award information, visit jdpower.com/slash awards.

Ah, Smart Water Alkaline with Antioxidant.

Pure, crisp taste, perfectly refreshing.

Whoa, that is refreshing.

And a 9.5 plus pH.

For those who move, those who push further, those with...

A taste for taste?

Exactly.

I did take a spin class today after work.

Look at you.

Restoring like a pro.

I mean, I also sat down halfway through.

Eh, close enough.

Smartwater alkaline with antioxidant.

For those with a taste for taste, grab yours today.

This is an iHeart podcast.