Dark Seasons

Case 3964: Document 2

The following document is the second of three critical pieces of evidence in FBI unsolved case #3964. Whereas the first document was a series of emails written by one of the victims, this second document is a written transcript of an interview with Captain Jason Yunis of the Pine Valley Police Department, one of the first responders on site. The interview was conducted by Agent Collin Pierce on January 3, 2014.

There is a soft click as Pierce turns on the tape recorder, then a scraping as he sits back in his chair.

CP: Please state your name and rank for the record before we get started here.

Yunis clears his throat.

JY: I'm Captain Jason Yunis, commander of the SWAT team here at the Pine Valley Police Department.

CP: And you know why you're here today, correct?

JY: Yes sir.

CP: Then you can begin your report whenever you're ready, captain.

There is a pause, lasting almost fifteen seconds, before Yunis continues.

JY: Well, to start with, we first got notified of the situation up at Blackgate about two weeks ago, back on the 19th. The blizzard had just started then, and the roads up to the asylum were already getting blocked with snow and ice. My team and I were notified that a situation was developing, and we might have to move out on a moment's notice if things got any worse.

There is a sound of paper rustling as Pierce opens up his file.

CP: And the phone lines went down on the 20th?

JY: Yes sir, half the houses on the entire east side of the city lost their phone and internet connections, the lines most likely having been knocked down somehow. The station couldn't raise Blackgate, and at that point, the roads had become too dangerous to travel on. For the next week, my team and I were on perpetual standby to go up the moment the roads were passable. We still had no idea what was even going on up there.

There's a sound of paper rustling as Pierce turns a page of his files.

CP: You waited all the way until New Year's Day for the weather to clear up, correct?

JY: Yes sir, that's right. It was a few minutes after dawn that we were called in to gear up and move out. It was still precarious going through the snow, but difficult isn't the same as impossible. It was a quarter to 8 by the time we arrived.

CP: Describe the scene on arrival, please.

Again there's a short pause, and Yunis lets out a small sigh before continuing.

JY: First off, the whole building was dark. Security shutters were drawn closed, but we didn't see a single light through them. One of the sections towards the building's left side looked like it had been burned out by a fire. Parts of the walls were blackened and the rood had collapsed in on itself, but the actual smoke and flames were long gone. There was at least a foot of snow still on the ground.

JY: The massive double doors of the front entrance were blocked by a mound of snow that was at least four feet high. We grabbed some shovels from our truck, and four of my men started digging away at the pile as the rest of us stood guard. When most of the snow had been cleared from the doors, we found our first vic. He had been buried beneath the snow, sitting with his back pressed against the doors. Poor bastard must have tried to run out in the storm, and got locked out by the time he changed his mind. We found the doors bolted shut, probably just like he found them.