Tay constantly, mostly to complain about “Crazy Cari” and the fact Dave was refusing to commit, even though, as Liz claimed, “I’m the best girlfriend in the world!” Tay also found herself a target of the stalker’s rage, and was receiving fifty to a hundred emails and texts daily, all allegedly from Cari. The “Cari” texts spewed hatred and accused Tay of being one of “Dave’s whores.”
Liz repeatedly invited Tay to come stay with her in Council Bluffs, sometimes suggesting that Tay’s teenage daughter come, too. “I think if I’d gone down there by myself that she would have tried to rub me out. Honest to God, there is not a thing anybody could say to me that would change my mind, but I think that if I had taken my daughter there, she would have killed her, too.” But that was a revelation still years away in 2014, and while she found Liz to be extremely irritating, she had no fear of her. In fact, she was angry at Heather for being rude to Liz.
From the moment Liz had entered their lives, relationships had been strained all the way around. Heather was frustrated with both Dave Kroupa and Tay for failing to see what was so obvious to her. They pooh-poohed her warnings that Liz was dangerous. No one bought Heather’s theory that Liz had murdered Cari and was pretending to be her.
Though Liz bombarded Tay with texts, she got annoyed when Tay texted Dave—particularly on Wednesdays. “Wednesday Girl became Every-day-girl for a while,” Tay wryly notes. Often, when Tay texted Dave a quick hello, she would immediately get a text from Liz with a pointed message: “I’m having alone time with Dave.” That was Tay’s cue to back off. Dave reported back to Tay that one of her “hellos” had prompted Liz to pick a fight with him. Tay remembers, “Nobody knew when it was safe to call. We ended up calling him at work because that was safer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LIZ NEVER GAVE UP trying to get closer to Dave, and he continued to meet women. Connie was one of the ladies he met online, and though they hadn’t talked on the phone, they texted quite a bit, and he was eager to meet her in person. She described herself as a slender blonde and said she liked to have fun. They arranged to meet in a restaurant in Omaha, and he showed up a 7 P.M., but there was no sign of his date. He waited and waited, but Connie didn’t show up. Finally, he texted to ask if she’d be there soon. She replied, Ha! Ha! Got you!
The lady he’d been texting with wasn’t Connie after all. There was no Connie! His stalker had created a fake identity to cat-phish him. He changed his number. He was more careful after that, and screened the ladies through multiple online chats before trusting them with his phone number. The next time he made a date with a stranger, they had a more extensive online friendship before he shared his information. He was looking forward to meeting Rita, and they set up a date at a coffeeshop, but she stood him up. He texted her and received a prompt reply: Fuck you! His stalker had gotten him again! Dave was cat-phished no less than six times, despite all his precautions. It was a frustrating waste of time.
Where did Liz get the energy to play her nonstop games? That’s almost as baffling as her unbelievable cruelty. She played another mean trick on Cari’s family in March 2014. It was Saint Patrick’s Day, hours before sunup, when Deputy Karl Rhyster was dispatched to the former home of Cari Farver in Macedonia, Iowa.
Sixteen months had passed since Cari left the home she shared with Max, but it was the only address dispatchers could find for her after they were alerted to a possible suicide threat, posted by “Cari” on the social networking site, MeetMe.
Deputy Rhyster recalls, “There was a vehicle in the driveway, so I contacted dispatch with the plate number, and they advised me that it was registered to a Marina Estes.” The Raneys’ tenant was jolted awake by a rap on her door. It was barely 5 A.M., too early for someone to drop by for anything other than an emergency. Marina was startled to see a uniformed officer on her stoop. She opened the door, shivering as the cold, early morning air rushed in.
“I recognized her as a person I