Father Discovers Shoe Fragments in Fire Pit, 4 Years After Daughter's Disappearance

The situation hadn't changed since William's daughter disappeared. Despite her disappearance, he still remembers the last day he saw her.

He suffered devastating effects as a result. Her whereabouts were unknown even after a search party scouted the town and nearby woods.

With weeks having passed without any new information, William decided he needed to refocus on being productive. In addition to his own grief, he knew that his ex-wife was also devastated. Help was needed.

Despite his best intentions, he made a big mistake by not asking first. In the end, he decided to let himself in.

When Will reached his ex-wife's house, he walked up the sidewalk. Even though she didn't ask for it, he decided to be a helping hand, knowing exactly where her spare key was kept.

Upon turning the key, he entered her home, but was appalled by what he found. Could this house be the one he once lived in during their marriage?

Karen's house was in such a bad state that William couldn't believe it. Stepping over trash was the only way he could get through the door. He had no idea how bad things would get.

Her need for help was more obvious than anyone else's. Clearly, the distraught mother was neglecting her health. Despite their divorce, he still cared about her. Starting cleaning up was the first thing he decided to do.

He began picking up garbage and tidying up where he could. There wasn't much he could do to put things back in order, but at least he could make the place look better.

Then he noticed something as he got deeper into the action. It occurred to him that the fireplace had recently been used while he was in the living room. Summer was in full swing. Why did she use it? What was the reason for not cleaning it?

In spite of his best efforts, Willian felt uneasy as he looked at the fireplace more and more. After falling forward onto his knees, he began to sift through the ash and soot.

Suddenly, he found his daughter Kylie's blackened, charred shoes. The fireplace was so full of ash that it couldn't be wood. Why had she done that?

In the midst of examining the horror in front of him, he heard Karen's door open as she got home early. While holding his daughter's charred shoes, she saw his emotions rising.

Her appearance made him see red. How could she have done that? As he yelled at her, she confessed the truth to him, but it would forever change their lives.

As any parent would, William Kingsley admired his child. Kylie was the most important thing in his life from the moment he saw her in the delivery room.

The promise he made to her was that he would never harm her and would raise her as well as he could. Everything changed, however, and things became complicated.

When they first got engaged, Karen promised to always love William, but as time went on, she changed her mind about everything.

The couple hadn't been happy together for a few years after Kylie was born. William was forced to comply with Karen's request, as she wanted to separate.

They finalized their divorce a few months later. After paying for the house, William decided to move and let Karen and Kylie stay. In his search for an apartment, he found a modest one.

His world seemed to be crumbling around him at first. As the months passed, his attitude changed.

Everything got better as William realized he still had his daughter. As Kylie grew older, her bond with her dad only grew stronger. 

Her parents had joint custody, and even though she lived with her mother, she saw her dad every weekend. But just as William got used to life again, tragedy was going to strike again.

One weekend like any other, William had got to spend it with Kylie. They stayed up late and had fun playing board games and watching Disney movies.

William cherished the time he had with Kylie and was a little sad to drop her at her mother's on Sunday night. But the next morning, he'd get a phone call that no parent ever wanted to receive.

William answered the phone the next morning and saw that it was Karen. He answered it to hear sobbing. Something was wrong, but he could barely make out what she was saying.

He told her to calm down and breathe. After a moment, she was finally able to tell him what was going on. Kylie had completely vanished. The dad couldn't believe it.

William didn't want to believe it. They called the police, who launched an investigation. They assured the distraught parents that they would do their best to find their daughter.

The community even elected to help the worried parents form a search party and scour the neighborhood themselves. But things only started to look more grim as time went on.

William knew all too well that if a minor isn't found within the first 24 hours, the chances of finding them only get slimmer. Panic washed over him, but there was nothing he could do.

He saw the effects his daughter's disappearance had on Karen. He thought he'd try and do something to help her, but he was sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

William called Karen and asked her if she wanted him over. He could cook her a meal so she could at least eat something. But Karen seemed to immediately shut down any attempts to help.

She told him that she didn't want him to come over. She just wanted to be left alone. But William wasn't going to take no for an answer, even if it meant going behind her back.

Now that weeks had passed without any new information, William decided to start trying to be productive in his day-to-day life again. He knew his ex-wife was just as devastated as he was. She needed help.

He decided to do something nice for her, but he made a big mistake not asking beforehand. He decided to let himself in.

Will drove to his ex-wife's house and walked up the pavement. He knew exactly where she kept her spare key and decided to be a helping hand, even if she didn't ask for it.

He turned the key and stepped into her house, but he was appalled by what he found. Was this really the house he once lived in while they were married?

Will drove to his ex-wife's house and walked up the pavement. He knew exactly where she kept her spare key and decided to be a helping hand, even if she didn't ask for it.

He turned the key and stepped into her house, but he was appalled by what he found. Was this really the house he once lived in while they were married?

William started picking up rubbish and tidying up where he could. He couldn't put everything in its rightful place, but he could at least make things look a bit better.

But just as he got into the thick of it, he noticed something. He was in the living room and noticed that the fireplace had recently been used. It was the middle of summer. Why had she used it? And why hadn't she cleaned it?

The more Willian examined the fireplace, the more he felt unsettled by what he saw. He fell forward onto his knees and started rifling through the ash and soot.

That's when he found it, his daughter Kylie's shoes, now blackened and charred. There was so much ash in the fireplace that it wasn't wood. What had she done?

Just as he examined the horror before him, he heard the door open as Karen got home early. She saw him holding the charred remains of his daughter's shoes and emotions welling up inside of him.

When he saw her, he saw red. What had she done? He screamed at her to tell him the truth, but what she confessed to him would mean their lives would never be the same.

It was clear Karen never thought she would get caught. She sat down on the couch and stared into the distance, thinking hard about something. Did she even know what she had done?

William didn't have patience for this. He sat down next to her and gripped her hands, "Please, just tell me what you did, and maybe your conscience will be cleared."

Karen seemed in complete shock. She turned and looked into his eyes. "The… fireplace. I couldn't deal with things anymore, so I had to do it," The traumatized mother said.

"What did you do? Just tell me the truth?" He pleaded with his wife. Finally, she was about to tell him what she had done. But it would only put her in a bad light.

"I went into Kylie's room and just felt so terrible. Her clothes just reminded me of her too much, so I put them in a bag and threw them into the fireplace. I burned a lot of her stuff." Karen said in a choked voice.

William finally understood what was going on. The only reason why the shoes were in the fireplace was because she had burned them in grief.

The misunderstood mother must have been beyond overwhelmed if she had resorted to burning their things. William only felt sympathy for the mother, but there was still something to attend to.

William helped clean out the fireplace and get the rest of the house in an acceptable condition. He reassured Karen and made sure she felt better. She was the only other person that understood how bad he felt. But things weren't over.

After that day, things started to turn around for the grief-stricken parents. Not long after William helped Karen get back on track, the police came to his front door.

William knew that it would either be great news or the worst news of his life. He invited the officer in and sat down on the couch. What was he about to tell him?

The police officer didn't mince words. He told William that they had found a potential lead. They were going to investigate it, but he wanted William to come with them.

Without hesitation, William accepted the offer and put on his coat. They were going to meet up at the edge of the forest and follow the trail they'd found. But William didn't know what to expect.

William and the officers started following a creek in the forest. They had found a piece of torn clothing that could have been Kylie's. After walking for an hour, they saw something.

It was a contrast from the natural colors in the forest. They saw something red in the distance, and when William got closer, he choked up at what he found.

William collapsed when he saw a little red shape on the floor by the creek. He recognized the shirt. It was his daughter. But had the worst happened? He broke out into a sprint and rolled her over.

The girl's eyes snapped open as she looked at her dad. Tears streamed down his face as he picked up his daughter for the first time in three weeks. She was safe now.