INTEL
CRIME
INTO
THIN
AIR
CAN A JOURNALIST HELP SOLVE A 3O-YEAR-OLD TRUE CRIME MYSTERY IN HER OZARKS HOMETOWN? BY ANNE RODERIQUE-JONES I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y N I C O L E R I F K I N
THERE’S NO MORE FITTING BACKDROP FOR A TRUE CRIME MYSTERY THAN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS.
Dense forests rest below limestone bluffs, punctuated by deep lakes, meandering streams and countless caves. This rugged topography has been described as hauntingly beautiful — a most apt portrayal. The Ozarks and its people have a multifaceted personality, one that marries a quiet peacefulness with an eerie hush. There are hiding places, but also places to be hidden. There are the deeply religious and their megachurches intermingled with the anti-government. There are those who live below the poverty line along with the ultra wealthy, who reside in sprawling suburbia. And there’s a guarded spirit to this part of the country, with a rawness buried beneath the all-American surface. This swath of land was widely unknown to most folks until the popular television show Ozark transported viewers to southern Missouri. The plot follows Jason Bateman’s character as he navigates the complicated juxtapositions of the Ozark Mountains and finds himself entangled in power, poverty and piety in a small town. These woodlands were also my childhood playground. I grew up in the Ozarks and was 12 years old when the Springfield Three, as they came to be known, disappeared. I can still see the bright yellow flyers with Stacy McCall, Suzie Streeter and Sherrill Levitt’s faces that blanketed my hometown in 1992.
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Artful Living