Then I said we needed to get everybody together. Once they started the search, they divided fields into sectors. Blackwell said it took them about two hours to find Cary Ann's body on the bank of a ditch on Bean Switch Road. In Blackwell's experience, with a homicide, it's critical to have a good suspect within three days. After that, some evidence will get tainted or destroyed.
People leave, move, forget.
They talk to one another and end up telling you what everybody else saw. It wasn't unusual for Blackwell and other agents to be working cases from every county in West Tennessee at the same time. It was the 1970s, when many sheriffs' departments were just beginning to get their staffs built up and trained. Over time, it became obvious he had a talent for the work. It was not easy.