In May 1997, issues have been taking a look up for Gary Patterson, a 33-year-old Waco, Texas draftsman and unmarried dad with a 6-year-old daughter Crystal.
A task alternative to supervise a brand new building in El Paso could be a likelihood for Patterson to construct a extra protected long term for them each.
His fiancee, Michelle Wilson, helped him select an outfit for his interview, she advised Buried in the Backyard, airing Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen. They decided on black pants, a white blouse and cowboy boots, and he headed to the Waco airport. “He looked nice,” Wilson stated.
She by no means noticed him once more.
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Gary Patterson Goes Missing
An afternoon later, Wilson and Patterson’s people, who have been observing Crystal, hadn’t heard from him. Convinced one thing used to be amiss, Patterson’s circle of relatives filed a lacking individuals record.
Patterson had discussed that he deliberate to talk over with a task website online east of El Paso deep in the Chihuahuan Desert. This sparked fear as a result of that space used to be throughout the border Juarez, Mexico.
“Juarez is infamous for its corruption, for its violence, and for its crime rate,” stated Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon.
Waco Police Dept. Det. Steve January expressed identical fear. “Somebody could have robbed him. Somebody could have shot him. Somebody could have killed him,” he stated. “Anything could have happened.”
Investigators showed that Patterson hadvert flown from Waco to El Paso. But then the path went chilly.
With lend a hand from the Mexican consulate, Patterson’s circle of relatives made certain that he wasn’t in a prison or jail south of the border, in line with his brother, David Patterson.
Investigators discovered that Patterson’s divorce in 1992 were turbulent as a result of custody problems. In 1994, his ex-wife, Lisa Urick Patterson, had taken the lady and “was in the wind” for just about two years, in line with Buried in the Backyard.
When detectives puzzled Patterson’s ex-spouse she had a cast alibi, stated January. “She wasn’t a person of interest.”
Investigators additionally puzzled Williams to verify she wasn’t tied into the disappearance. She used to be temporarily “marked off the list,” stated January. “She had an alibi. She loved Gary.”
Detectives keen on Patterson’s task interview in El Paso, a possibility attached to the building of a modular house group initiated by means of a meant developer named Ned Wright.
Patterson had stored the interview and the commute to El Paso a secret to most of the people as a result of his present employer would possibly resent his task seek, in line with Buried in the Backyard.
Detectives decided that Wright had stayed at the Fairfield Inn in El Paso. However, they discovered no person registered beneath that identify. Using telephone logs they discovered that one visitor had made calls to Brazos Environmental and Engineering, Patterson’s place of work in Waco.
That lodger, who used to be required to percentage his driving force’s ID, used to be Theodore Young. Interviews with witnesses showed that Young and Wright have been the identical particular person.
Con Man Theodore Young Enters the Case
Young were “convicted of a massive fraud in South Carolina worth $26 million,” stated January. Young did not give up and used to be on the run from federal police.
It used to be unclear what a fugitive con guy would wish with Patterson. Investigators keen on his ex-father-in-law Sam Urick, who had a historical past of checkered trade dealings.
Urick declined to talk with government, and they couldn’t pressure him to take action. Investigators rotated again to a non-public investigator Patterson employed to seek for his ex-wife and his daughter.
That non-public eye had got rid of a magazine from the entrance seat of Sam Urick’s automotive and despatched it to detectives, January advised Buried in the Backyard. The magazine contained pages of names and touch numbers, together with that of Theodore Young.
Gary Patterson’s Ex-Father-in-Law Sam Urick a Suspect
The center of attention of the investigation changed into the connection between Sam Urick and Theodore Young. Urick’s community reached past the Texas state jurisdiction, so investigators enlisted the lend a hand of the U.S. Marshals to trace him down.
Detectives on the Patterson case came upon that Urick were flagged by means of the CIA. “He was allegedly involved in some shady dealings with rogue government agents back in the ’80s,” stated January.
Investigators shared the discovery with Patterson’s circle of relatives. “We knew Gary was gone,” stated his brother David.
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Waco investigators grilled Sam Urick’s recognized El Paso accomplices. They advised them a few mining scheme in the wilderness out of doors of El Paso, stated January.
In June 1998 investigators drove to the sprawling assets in the wilderness, the place a safety guard advised them that there have been “a lot of shady things happening,” stated Cawthon.
Evidence shared by means of the guard integrated a human bone. Investigators leaned on Patterson’s ex-wife, who at this level used to be in prison for a parole violation associated with her prior custody and kidnapping fees.
Gary Patterson’s Case Goes International
“She let us know that she knew her father had intentionally lured Gary El Paso and didn’t mean to kill him, but had been beating on him,” stated January.
A radical seek of the wilderness ranch assets grew to become up a human skeleton investigators believed used to be Gary Patterson. It used to be, actually, the stays of any other guy who’d long past lacking.
Nonetheless, Patterson’s ex-wife’s confession made it transparent that her father and fraudster Theodore Young had plotted an assault on him.
Waco detectives grew to become their center of attention to discovering Young and sought lend a hand from federal government and Interpol. In August 1998, Interpol police captured Young in Honduras, stated Cawthon.
When puzzled by means of Waco investigators, Young spilled all about what took place to Patterson 15 months previous.
According to investigators, Young stated that he went to Waco to attract Patterson to El Paso. When they arrived he drove Patterson to the wilderness, the place Sam Urick used to be ready. Young held a gun to Patterson’s head as Urick certain him.
“Young said, ‘I left at that point,’” stated January. The subsequent day, Young claimed that Urick advised him that Patterson used to be not an issue. For January, this showed that Patterson were killed, the investigator stated.
Confession Leads to Gary Patterson’s Buried Body
Young drew a map for investigators the place this deadly come across came about. Using that map, human stays have been discovered that have been showed thru dental information to be Gary Patterson.
The clinical examiner decided that Patterson were struck by means of a blunt object — and that he had sand in his nasal hollow space and lungs. “Gary Patterson had been buried alive,” stated January.
“If you ever believe that evil does not exist, take a look at what happened to Gary Patterson.That’s pure evil,” stated Cawthon.
Prosecutors sought the loss of life penalty. But in September 1999, Sam Urick and Theodore Young pled accountable to Patterson’s homicide.
Young gained twenty years for his position in the crime and used to be launched after 17 years in 2018. Lisa Urick Patterson gained 3 years, which used to be added to 2 she used to be serving for the parole violation. She served 5 years in complete ahead of her loss of life in 2005.
Mastermind Sam Urick, now 86, gained a lifestyles sentence and is lately in the back of bars.
To to find out extra about the case, watch Buried in the Backyard, airing Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.
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