have latched onto the fact that Zoe was majoring in marine biology like it’s some kind of proof she was an expert in all things nautical. News flash: College-level research knowledge of the giant squid does not equal experience with boating or aquatic navigation.
Maybe it would have been a plausible escape route for a desperate person. But here’s the thing: While the purchase is indisputable, the fine folks at Greyhound Lines cannot confirm that Zoe actually got on that bus. This clip is also from Channel Four, from the evening of January ninth.
GREYHOUND SPOKESPERSON [FEMALE]: We have no record that the ticket purchased by Zoe Spanos was scanned. Our scanner was working and in use, and we’ve turned our records over to the police. It is highly unlikely that Zoe Spanos boarded the 317 line on the night of January first.
MARTINA GREEN: If Zoe’s phone was turned off following that PayPal transaction, how did she navigate Mrs. Hunt’s motorboat to New Jersey? The police theory would require a good deal of advanced planning on Zoe’s part. It would also require a good deal of stupidity and desperation, neither of which describe Zoe at all.
So, what do we know about Zoe?
Fact one: Zoe had access to her parents’ car. If she wanted to get to Asbury Park, or Philadelphia for that matter, she could have driven herself there.
Fact two: Zoe also had access to the LIRR. If she was concerned about being charged with grand theft auto, she could have easily hopped on a train.
Fact three: If Zoe was really trying to run away, leave no trace, why would she create an obvious digital trail with the PayPal transaction? She had access to plenty of cash, yet did not withdraw any from her bank account before she disappeared. Additionally, none of Zoe’s accounts have been accessed since.
Fact four: Zoe had no reason to run away from her life. This has been the sticking point for police, the motive they can’t produce. But they don’t need to produce a motive, because Zoe’s supposed choice to run away isn’t a crime.
Over the course of the past six weeks, police have proposed an unlikely string of theories: that Zoe didn’t make it all the way to Asbury Park, drowned somewhere out in the Atlantic. (Which would actually seem the most logical scenario, if you believe that Zoe would have attempted to make the boat trip in the first place, which I firmly do not.) That Zoe made it to Asbury Park but then rerouted. That she met up with friends with a car. That she purchased the bus ticket to deliberately lead us off track. What friends in New Jersey? And where is the boat?
As of last Friday, search efforts in Asbury Park, Philadelphia, and along Zoe’s supposed oceanic route have officially wound down. From what we can tell in Herron Mills, they unofficially wound down a lot sooner than that. We’ve been told there’s no way to clearly trace her path. That without communication from Zoe, who clearly does not want to be found, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.
So, I’m here to ask the questions the police won’t. Because Zoe Spanos had no reason to run away, and certainly not in the way the police think she did. I’m here to propose that there’s no connection between Zoe and that missing boat. Yes, she—or her phone—was in the vicinity of the marina that night. She—or someone who had access to her phone—purchased that bus ticket. But that’s where the connection between Zoe and the boat ends.
Something happened to Zoe Spanos on New Year’s Eve, and someone knows what it was. Someone knows where Zoe is.
Zoe, I hope you’re alive. I hope you’re still out there. There are a lot of people at home who are missing you. And no matter what the police think, I, Martina Green, am going to try my hardest to uncover the truth and bring you home.
[CODA TO MISSING ZOE INSTRUMENTAL THEME]
7 NOW
September
Herron Mills, NY
MARTINA WAITS PATIENTLY to be connected to Anna Cicconi at the Pathways Juvenile Center. Her phone is on speaker on the kitchen table, ready to record. She picks at a plate of cold tostones, the sole remnants from last night’s dinner still waiting in the fridge when she got home. Dad must have taken the rest with him to Jenkins’. She thinks about microwaving the leftover plantains, but she’s too hungry to wait. She reaches for the salt.
She had wanted to