Circle of friends

Police were trying to piece together everything that happened in the hours before Adrianne Reynolds disappeared. So they continued to call Cory Gregory and Sarah Kolb: the last people known to have seen her on Friday, January 21, 2005.

Police (police phone interview):  Hello, is this Sarah?

Sarah Kolb:  Yes, it is.

Police:  This is Officer Allen, East Moline Police Department.

Police: Are you friends with Adrianne Reynolds?

Sarah Kolb:  To be honest, no. I don’t like her

Sarah explained their rocky relationship and the officer wondered why she’d give a ride to Adrianne, a girl she didn’t like.

Sarah Kolb:  We got into an argument at school.

Police:  Um hum.

Sarah Kolb:  And I was like, “Well, let’s talk it over at lunch.”  She had been hanging out with my friend who likes me and I like him, but she likes him and we got into an argument about that because she wouldn’t leave him alone.

Adrianne had gotten into Sarah’s car along with Cory and a friend named Sean McKittrick. Sarah and Cory first told police that they dropped her off at McDonald’s but investigators were about to find out there was much more to that story. In fact, Sarah was about to drop a bombshell.

Sarah Kolb: I’ll be honest with you. I hit her.

Police:  Okay.

Sarah Kolb: She hit me back.

Police:  Okay.

Sarah Kolb: And all props to her, she hit me pretty hard too.

Sarah says the fight occurred inside her car, which was parked at a Taco Bell restaurant during the busy lunch hour.

Sarah Kolb: And I swear to God, you know, she was crying.  She’s like, “I’m afraid that you,” you know, “you’re going to beat me up.” I was like, “You know what? You’re not even worth it.” I’m not going to get in trouble over some stupid minor who is a skank. And I was like, “Just keep it simple. Stay away from me  and stay away from Cory.”

Cory told us he witnessed everything.

Cory Gregory: And Sarah just kept screamin’ and screamin’ and then grabbed her hair and started whisperin’ in her ear. And then Sean - Sean told her to stop and she told Sean, “If you don’t like it, get out of my car.” So Sean got out of the car and walked away.

Rob Stafford, Dateline correspondent: Did you say anything at that point?

Cory Gregory: No, I just pretty much sat there and smoked my cigarette.

Stafford: They’re fighting over you.

Cory Gregory: Pretty much, yeah. I feel bad so I’m just being quiet, letting them do their argument.

It was later that afternoon that Adrianne’s parents discovered she was missing. And over the weekend, Cory told his mother about all the questions police were asking him and Sarah.

Teresa Gregory: And I just told him, “Well, you know, Cory, that’s an investigation.  We have a missing girl here.” I figured she had run away. You know? I figured the kids maybe knew where she was, maybe knew where she was hiding. And I said, “Cory, if you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

But by Monday afternoon, three days after Adrianne’s disappearance, Cory was making an unusual demand of his parents.

Teresa Gregory: That’s when Cory first told me  “Sarah’s family has got her set up this afternoon with a lawyer and we need to get a lawyer.” 

By Tuesday afternoon, they’d hired an attorney and Cory was at the police station talking with investigators.

Stafford: And what do you say to Cory as he goes in to give police a statement?

Bert Gregory, Cory's father: To tell the truth.

Teresa Gregory: To relax.

Bert Gregory: There’s no problem.

Teresa Gregory: Don’t be nervous.

Bert Gregory: The lawyer went in there with him and came out said he did real good. He answered all the questions. He says, “I don’t think it’s any big deal.”

Meanwhile, Adrianne’s parents were still desperately searching for their daughter, looking for clues—anything that would help find her.

Tony Reynolds, Adrianne's father: Just hungry I guess to find out something, somebody’s seen her somewhere or something.

They were so frantic, they’d even called a psychic.

Stafford: And what did he tell you?

Joanne Reynolds: That she was alive, living in a basement.

Tony Reynolds: The one time she needed you most, you wasn’t there.

Across town, Cory’s dad, was about to realize his teenager also needed help... and there was much more to the story than Cory had told the police. 

Bert Gregory: He started crying. And I started asking him questions, and he started breaking down.  He started crying more.  So I knew something was up.

I just couldn’t even say anything. I just cried and hugged him.  And he says, “Mom, I’m  so sorry. I’m so sorry.”  At that point my heart was so broken, I didn’t even have words.

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