Canvass – YCCC employees & guests
YCSD investigators canvassed Yoknapatawpha County Conference Center (YCCC) employees and guests for anyone who saw or heard anything of note during the estimated window of time when Douglas Reed is believed to have been killed: between 6:00 p.m. Sunday, June 12 and 7:00 a.m. Monday, June 13, 2022.
The interviews summarized are some of the most typical or relevant to the investigation and are representative of all interviews conducted.
Bigham
Julio Bigham
YCCC housekeeping staff
Mr. Bigham said he cleaned all of the YCCC meeting rooms on Sunday evening, June 12, 2022. He said he started cleaning the rooms at about 5:00 p.m., and while he couldn't be sure of the exact time, he thought he cleaned Meeting Room 10 around 7:00 p.m. He said when he finished cleaning Meeting Room 10, he exited the room and made sure the doors were locked.
Bigham said his cleaning duties in all of the meeting rooms consisted of dusting, vacuuming, and emptying the trash bins. He said he neither saw nor heard anyone else in the vicinity while he was cleaning the meeting rooms, which was expected as the scheduled meetings for the day had concluded around 4:30 p.m. to the best of Bigham's knowledge.
Bigham said he saw nothing unusual in Meeting Room 10 or any of the other meeting rooms he cleaned that evening.
Herminia Douglas
YCCC hotel guest
Mrs. Douglas said she was in town to attend the Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference. She said she was not a scholar but rather described herself as a "Faulkner devotee."
Douglas said she was waiting for an elevator to return to her hotel room around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2022, when she heard what she described as "a muffled noise." She said she thought at the time that it was a car backfiring in the parking lot or possibly some kids playing with fireworks. She said it was only after she heard about Douglas Reed's murder at the YCCC that she thought she should mention it to authorities.
Lamoreaux
Michelle Lamoreaux
YCCC Business Center staff
Ms. Lamoreaux said she was working in the YCCC's Business Center on Sunday, June 12, 2022. She said her shift was scheduled to end at 8:00 p.m., but she stayed approximately 30 minutes late to help a guest who was having trouble printing his documents.
Lamoreaux said when she was leaving the YCCC around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, she bumped into an attractive man in his early to mid-30s who was on his way into the YCCC. Her description of the man generally fit the victim, Douglas Reed. She said the two of them exchanged pleasantries, and he asked for her telephone number, which she gave him. Lamoreaux said she then left the YCCC, and the man continued in.
She said she could not recall what name the man had given when he introduced himself. When asked if she recognized a photo of the victim as the man she had met in the YCCC lobby, Lamoreaux said she was terrible with faces and could not be sure.
Lamoreaux also mentioned that her co-worker Amadeo Peralta told her he had seen some people fighting in the YCCC parking lot that Sunday night, but she couldn't remember the details of what Peralta had said.