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Marked Explicit for details of sexual assault of a minor.

 

Kacie Woody: Chat Rooms and Stranger Danger

Kacie Woody

★Born October 17, 1989 to parents Rickie and Kristie

★Conway, Arkansas

★Her mom died in a car accident in November of 1997 (7 y/o)

On June 19, 1997, when Kacie was 7 years old, her mother Kristie was killed in a car accident, while the family was on their way home from Tim’s baseball game. The car collided with a horse that had run into the road, which shattered the windshield and hit Kristie, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Everyone else in the vehicle survived, although Rick, who was driving, suffered broken ribs.

★An honor student at Greenbriar Middle School

○Band, choir, gifted and talented program

★In 2002, lived with her dad and 19 y/o brother, Tim. Ssome sources say Tim’s friend Eric Betts lived there as well. Her aunt Teresa was also their neighbor

★Lived in a heavily wooded area. This caused a lot of their calls to register as long distance so Rick let her use instant messaging to keep in touch with friends

★Had another older brother who didn’t live with them anymore

 

The Internet in 2002

★Described as the internet’s “awkward teen years”

★569 million people connected to the internet (>5 billion now)

★Internet usage 45 minutes/day

★3 million websites (1.14 billion now)

★Internet Explorer

★Friendster launched

★44% of those with internet access at work say it helps them do their jobs

★Xbox Live is launched . Microsoft launches Xbox Live, its online multiplayer gaming service.”Critics scoffed at the idea, noting how uncommon broadband connections were at the time.”

Chat Rooms

★She would use chat rooms and befriend the people she met on there

★She started talking to “jazzman_df”

★17 y/o boy named Dave Fagen

★Met in a Yahoo Christian teen chat room

★Described as a “surfer dude” – loved surfing and the beach and had the stereotypical attractive surfer look

★Became quick friends and got close fast

★She eventually told him about the loss of her mother and he responded by telling her of a close relative he had lost in a similar way. He told her that his aunt, who also happened to live in Arkansas, was recently in a car accident and now comatose, and wasn’t expected to live much longer

★Kacie told her best friends, Sam and Jessica, about him and they also befriended him and added him to their Yahoo buddy lists

 

Stranger Danger

★Sam was worried Kacie was being naive and risking her safety by getting so close to and falling in love with someone she had never met in person

★Rick knew she was talking to boys online, but he wasn’t too worried about it since he knew Kacie was at home and they were somewhere else

★In summer of 2002, she mentioned to her dad that Dave was turning 18 (remember she’s not even 13 yet)

★He told her that Dave was too old for her and that she was to stop talking to him

★Kacie told Dave what her dad had said, but they continued talking – they even started talking on the phone rather than just IM’ing

★Sam and Jessica spoke to him on the phone a few times as well. Sam was skeptical of some of the things she knew about Dave – particularly his age. She said he used outdated slang like “groovy” and “far out.” Kacie trusted him though and figured it was just how Californians talked

 

Spooky Sleepover

★In fall of 2002, Jessica and Kacie were having a sleepover

★The girls were home alone (1)

★The girls started hearing strange sounds around the outside of the house

★They also heard a floorboard squeak in the kitchen

★The panicked and ran to Kacie’s bedroom where they barricaded the door with a dresser

★Kacie started messaging Dave and told him what was happening and that she was afraid someone was in the house. He messaged her back saying not to worry, that nobody was there

★The noises stopped

 

Chat Rooms and Stranger Danger P2

★At some point, she met another boy, Scott, in a chat room

Tazz2999

14 y/o

From Alpharetta, GA

He loved football and wrestling

★Oct 3, 2002 they started dating. She was honest with dave about this relationship and he seemed to understand and be okay with it and wanted to stay friends. Their relationship started to be more about talking about his aunt than anything else

★Dec 3, 2002 Sam saw that Scott’s photo was in her locker

○Tell story about fight. She told her that he was hot, which Kacie misheard as “fat”. Kacie became angry, and the two began arguing. When Sam asked Kacie how she got the photo, she told her that Scott had mailed it to her. Alarmed over the fact that this meant Kacie had given Scott her address, Sam warned her again about giving her address to people that she had never met in person, and told her that Scott “could be an 80-year-old rapist and that the photo could be of his grandson”.

★Kacie didn’t care and didn’t have any plans to stop what she was doing

★Sam was genuinely concerned so she went to the school counselor

★The counselor agreed with Sam and met with Kacie. She warned her about the dangers of the Internet and told her not to meet any online friends in person without a parent present. Kacie responded that she only gave her phone number to people her father approved, which Sam disbelieved.

★The counselor then left the girls alone to talk and they reconciled

★At the end of classes that day, Kacie asked Sam to have a sleepover. Declined, because her mother likely wouldn’t have allowed a sleepover on a school night, and Kacie would have needed a written note from her father in order to be allowed to be dropped off at Sam’s house

★She tried asking Jessica and then another friend as well

★They said it wasn’t like her to ask for a sleepover on a school night

 

December 3, 2002

★Kacie was home alone

Time was doing research at his college’s library

His friend was in a class

Rick was on duty

Teresa (her aunt that lived next door) was at her daughter’s basketball game

★Kacie was IM’ing with Scott while talking to Dave on the phone. Dave told Kacie that his aunt’s condition continued to worsen, and that he was driving to Arkansas to be by her side until she passed away

★She abruptly stopped IM’ing Scott at 9:41 pm

 

Panic

★Scott repeatedly messaged her hoping someone would see the messages and respond

★That wasn’t working so he emailed Jessica and called the Woody house

★10:15 – Betts got home. He assumed she was in bed or out with friends and went about normally

★11:40 – Tim got home. He noticed she wasn’t in her bed so he called Rick who immediately raced home

★What Rick found wasn’t good

Signs of forced entry

Her reading glasses. They were on the computer with one of the lens’ missing (the computer was also still open to the chat room)

Her Yorkshire Terrior was limping

★He called her friends hoping they could shed light on the situation, but none of them had seen or heard from her

★After this he called for backup

★One of the boys IM’ed with Scott

He told them about Kacie’s conversation with Dave and how she had abruptly stopped IM’ing

 

Runaway?

★Investigators initially thought she could have been a runaway but Rick said no way

He said she was happy with her life

She wouldn’t leave the house without telling him

He had checked in with her around 7 pm

She had been practicing her saxophone and nothing seemed unusual

★Her coats and shoes were still there – it was supposed to be in the 30s that night with rain

★They agreed this sounded like an abduction and a massive investigation was launched

 

Full Speed Ahead

★FBI, Arkansas State Police, every law enforcement agency in Faulkner county, police dogs, and dozens of volunteers

★5:14am a Morgan Nick alert (AR equivalent to Amber alert was issued)

★The Woody computer was seized

★Students and staff at the middle school were questioned

★An FBI agent found notes with Scott and Dave’s names on them in her trashcan

 

Who is Scott?

★His computer was traced to Alpharetta

★FBI went to the property and met his mother

★His parents didn’t know who Kacie was or that he had a girlfriend

★FBI determined he was who he said he was and was cleared of suspicion

 

Who is Dave?

★It wasn’t as easy to confirm Dave’s identity

★Kacie’s friends told police about him telling her that he was coming to AR

★A search around the local area was launched for clues about him. At a Conway Motel 6, they discovered a 1993 Buick Regal with a California license plate. Detectives learned that it belonged to a man named David Fuller, who had checked in December 2 and booked his stay for a week, requested no maid service, and had complained to the staff about not being able to connect to the Internet from his room, which he had become very angry over. When the detectives searched his room, they found Fuller’s packed suitcase, laptop, camouflage clothing, rubber gloves, and that the bed hadn’t been slept in.

★Next they went to the local Enterprise and subpoenaed his paperwork. An employee stated that Fuller had behaved strangely, and repeatedly went outside to smoke while filling out paperwork

★This gave them a lot of info

His phone number matched one repeatedly dialed from the Woody house

He had rented a silver Dodge Caravan minivan

His credit card had been charged by Guardsmart Storage

★Officially identified as being the Dave Kacie talked to

★Not just a person of interest, but a full blown suspect now

 

The Storage Unit

★Dec 4, 2002 at about 6pm FBI agents arrived at the storage unit

★It wasn’t locked and when they opened it they found the minivan with its engine running

★When they started to enter they heard a gunshot so they ran for cover and called for backup

★They told the perpetrator to surrender their weapon and come out with their hands up but nothing happened

★At 8:30 a SWAT team arrived

★They found David Fuller’s body on the floor behind the minivan where he had shot himself

★The back seats of the van were also on the floor

★Inside the van they found Kacie’s body

She was in the back of the minivan with her wrists and ankles chained to the van

Fuller had raped her before shooting her in the head

 

Who Was David Fuller

★Born January 18, 1955

★Fourth and youngest child of Ned and June Fuller

★Married at 19

Didn’t last long

★28 when he married again and moved to Salt Lake City

They met when he was playing bass at a local bar

★Worked for the Navy

Moved around a bit and had 2 kids

Left the Navy in ‘99

★His life had been going downhill since then

★His wife was filing for divorce

★A claim was made with CPS that he had been showering with his daughter but was found to be untrue

★He was charged with spousal abuse after they were separated – he had returned to Krens’ home one night, shoved and screamed at her, and then unlocked a bedroom door with a screwdriver after she had locked herself and the children inside.

★He had a clear escalation prior to abducting and murdering Kacie. Fuller had also once been arrested and fined for indecent exposure after exposing himself to two young girls, and had been fired from his job as a used car salesman after being caught watching pornography (possibly of children) on the work computer.

 

Searching His Apartment

★After his death, FBI searched his apartment and found lots of things

A framed collage of photos of Kacie

Her and her friends names, phone numbers, and addresses

A poem Kacie had written about her mother’s death

Proof that he had tried to groom at least 3 other girls with his online persona

Snow

★Sam and Jessica had been watching the news waiting for updates and they have said in interviews since that when they heard Kacie’s body had been found they huddled together on the porch and cried

★As they heard the news was when it started to snow

★They said Kacie had been wishing for it to snow for weeks and they believed it was a message from her

Kacie Woody Foundation

★Her friends and family started the Kacie Woody Foundation to bring awareness and education around online predators

★They have a facebook page as well as a website with information and links that focus on internet safety

★They also share information of missing juveniles

★They want to keep continue to share her story

In an interview with ABC in 2020, Sam said, “we can share her story so that her death is not in vain. This is to keep this from happening to somebody else.”

They said they hope people see her story and choose to be more careful with what they share online.

“I know if she were still here, she would be doing something great.”

 

 

Sources: All Accessed October, 2022

Kacie Woody Foundation http://kaciewoody.homestead.com/?fbclid=IwAR32yQQDeh_OwO8zvMuiQ8QmkLg0kH7DD83qv6T8CY_GgnBlGsfGgXqWrWs

Kacie Woody Foundation Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kaciewoodyfoundation

Kacie Woody https://victimsofhomicide.fandom.com/wiki/Kacie_Woody

Kacie Rene Woody https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6995457/kacie-rene-woody

Story of 2002 Conway child murder to be shared on Investigation Discovery https://katv.com/news/local/story-of-conway-child-murder-to-be-featured-on-investigation-discovery

Kacie Rene Woody Murder: Is David Fuller Dead or Alive? https://thecinemaholic.com/kacie-rene-woody-murder-is-david-fuller-dead-or-alive/

Murder of Kacie Woody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kacie_Woody

World Wide Web Timeline https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/#2002

The Internet was Kinda Terrible in 2002 https://www.webpronews.com/the-internet-was-kind-of-terrible-in-infographic/#:~:text=Speaking%20of%20the%20world%2C%20there,four%20hours%20a%20day%20now.

Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of July 2022 https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

How Many Websites are There in the World https://siteefy.com/how-many-websites-are-there/