Mar 27, 2017
In 1996, the internet was still in its infancy with an
estimated 10 million users. The first flip phone was introduced
with a price tag of a whopping $1,000.
To give a little more perspective, this was three years before
the Columbine Massacre and five years before 9/11. In the summer of
1996, we didn’t even know the name Jon Benet Ramsey. Her murder was
still four month away. One could argue that we hadn’t yet lost our
innocence.
I was twenty two years old at the the time. I remember seeing
one of those huge “Have You Seen Me?” billboards on the by-pass in
my hometown of Jackson, Tennessee. Jackson sits on Interstate 40
about halfway between Memphis and Nashville. The billboard was for
a missing fourteen year old girl from Milan, Tennessee, a small
town of 8,000 people that is located some twenty five miles north
of Jackson.
In 1996, we weren’t as connected as we are today. There was no
texting or social media. Sure, most residents of Milan would drive
to Jackson to work, but most of my friends at the time had never
even been to Milan…there was just no reason to go there. So, when
the news broke of Cayce Lynn McDaniel’s disappearance, many of us
in the largest city in West Tennessee outside of Memphis were left
scratching our heads. What the hell was going on in this
neighboring town that we had always heard mention of but knew very
little about.
In the twenty years since, I’ve been to Milan countless times
when i ran a delivery route. I’ve made friends there and have
learned a lot about the town during this time.
Milan is unique in West Tennessee in the fact that it is
romanticized by its residents, especially when it comes to its high
school football team. It reminds me of something you would see in
rural Texas. Think Friday Night Lights.
When fall rolls around, the town becomes a sea of purple and
white (the colors of the Milan Bulldogs. It is also a pastime for
residents to bash every surrounding town (including Jackson) as
inferior. Especially, other towns in Gibson County. Humboldt, Tn is
referred to as Scumboldt by residents of Milan.
Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon to hear Milan residents
who worked in Jackson brag about how they wouldn’t be caught dead
living in Jackson…the crime was just too bad there. It became a
running joke with a lot of my friends about how we had been
oblivious for so long that God’s utopian garden spot on Planet
Earth was just twenty-five miles north of Jackson, Tn. Who
knew?
While this hometown pride always rubbed many of us the wrong
way back then, there is something endearing about it. There is a
sense of community there that is lacking in a lot of the country.
There is no need to convince people to shop local there. If a shop
in Milan has what residents need, that’s where they'll get
it.
So last December, seemingly every television network was
airing specials on the 20th anniversary of the murder of Jon Benet
Ramsey. Then I saw a small blurb about the case of Cayce Lynn
McDaniel.
I understand why the Ramsey case captivated the world, but I
couldn’t help but feel anger over the lack of coverage of Cayce’s
case. If it weren’t for a local news report, I wouldn’t have known
that it has been twenty years. It just isn’t on the radar
anymore.
I remember thinking, if Cayce was a blonde haired, blue eyed
beauty pageant contestant from a well to do family, maybe she would
be getting more attention on the 20th anniversary. I actually
thought to myself, “Someone should do a podcast on this.” Well,
sometimes if you want something done, you have to do it
yourself.
That’s where I come in. I’m a singer-songwriter who left my
career in 2013 to pursue music full-time. And two years ago, I
started a documentary podcast called Left Of Nashville to chronicle
all the struggles that come along with this.
I have written for some local papers over the years, but I
don’t consider myself a journalist. But I am a storyteller. And
after two years of podcasting, I fell in love with the
medium.
So I decided to be the change I want to see.
in the next episode, we will begin at the beginning. August
16, 1996. This is the story of the disappearance of Cayce Lynn
McDaniel. I’m Brandon Barnett. And this is Searching For
Ghosts.
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