phone’s passcode, putting it into airplane mode. The procedure, Avis explains, “preserves the phone as is, so when I return it to her, it’s like taking a step back in time. When she takes it out of airplane mode, all the messages that she was getting will start to come through again.”
Downloads typically take between two and six hours, and the phone would first be delivered to the county’s task force office and placed in a Faraday box, a strong box that blocks signals. Named for Michael Faraday, the British scientist who invented the container in 1836, also known as a Faraday shield or cage, the contraption shields items from electromagnetic fields. Detectives sometimes opt to use Faraday shields for confiscated cell phones to prevent digital evidence from being deleted or altered remotely. Special Deputy Anthony Kava, from the IT department, would handle the download.
Avis told Liz he would speak to Dave and Amy about the harassment and gave her his work cell phone number, inviting her to call should any issues arise over the weekend. The next morning, Liz forwarded him more threatening messages, claiming Amy had just sent them. The detective acknowledged her concerns and assured her he’d speak with Amy on Monday. But by then, everything would change.
* * *
It was late Saturday afternoon on December 5, 2015, and Amy Flora was at her apartment, settling in for the evening. Her two older kids were spending the weekend with their father, so she and little Mason were alone. Though it wasn’t quite 4 P.M., night comes early in Iowa in December with the sun setting by five. Soon it would be dark, and it was cold outside. It had been a long day, and Amy was tired and glad to be home in her cozy apartment. She’d been out to lunch with her friend Dustie, and the ladies had shopped for Christmas presents afterward.
Mason had conked out in his car seat on the way home, and she’d carried the sleeping boy inside and tucked him in for his nap. She showered, pulled on her flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top, and got comfortable. With a full-time job and three kids, she didn’t often have time to relax. There was only one thing she felt like doing. “I sat on the couch, playing games on my iPad.”
About three miles southeast of Amy’s apartment, Garret Sloan was at home, watching TV with the kids when Liz announced she was going to Walmart. Garret stared at her, surprised she’d bothered to inform him of her plans. “Typically, Liz never told me where she was going, and I never cared enough to ask,” he says, adding that she often insinuated he had an obsessive need to know her whereabouts. It wasn’t true. Frankly, he didn’t care what she was up to, as long as it didn’t involve him.
Liz watched Garret expectantly, waiting for him to acknowledge her plan to go shopping.
“Okay. Whatever,” he said, and she went out the door.
* * *
Council Bluffs’ Big Lake Park is not normally viewed as a place of mystery. The 163-acre park is a rolling terrain of grassy hills and grand old trees. Features include three lakes, tennis courts, playgrounds, and a hiking trail that loops around Gilbert Pond, a tiny lake stocked with rainbow trout for those who fish off the dock. Few visitors are aware of two strange incidents that frightened some folks away. Each occurred on a chill December evening, and each involved lights in the sky—though the first incident began with lights, and the second incident ended with them.
On December 17, 1977, at quarter to 8 P.M., a peculiar thing appeared in the sky over Big Lake Park. Eleven people witnessed it, and their descriptions were somewhat varied. Some insisted it hovered for a moment before rocketing toward the Earth. One witness described a ball of fire, while another said it resembled a shooting star. Still another said the object had rotating lights. They all agreed on one thing. It did not remain in the sky.
The Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) crashed to the ground near Gilbert Pond. Firefighters rushed to the scene, shocked to find a mass of metal, melted and boiling and running down the edge of the embankment. After the largest pieces had cooled, the firefighters gathered them up and whisked them away.
Authorities were stumped. Where had the thing come from? What in the world was it? Experts at Iowa State University examined the molten fragments and determined