BY STEVE SHORT – MILAN MIRROR-EXCHANGE
A Gibson County man who is a person of interest in the unsolved case of a teenage girl’s disappearance 22 years ago, was indicted July 16, 2018 on child exploitation charges.
A grand jury in the Eastern Division of the Western District of Tennessee returned a two-count indictment, charging that on June 14, 2018, Finis Ewin Hill, 66, known as “Pete” Hill, used the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.
Hill is also charged with traveling from Tennessee to Mississippi on June 16, 2018, to meet with a person he believed to be under sixteen and engage in illicit sexual activity.
A petition to revoke Hill’s supervised release has also been filed. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the indictment July 16. Hill was in prison last week, officials said.
1996 case
Before last week’s indictment, Mr. Hill had been named by the FBI and Milan Police Department as a person of interest in the disappearance of 14 year-old Cayce McDaniel.
On Aug. 16, 1996, McDaniel arrived at her Milan residence on North First Street near Milan Elementary School after attending a church party. A chaperone dropped her off and watched her go into the house. Family members said they arrived at the house at approximately 1:30 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. and discovered the back door of their house wide open, and no sign of Cayce.
Hill was an acquaintance of McDaniel’s family.
McDaniel has never been found. Law enforcement have said they believe she is dead. They are asking the public to help solve the case.
“We feel like somebody out there knows something,” said Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers last week. “We think someone knows where Cayce’s remains are located, but they just won’t talk. The number one priority for Milan Police is to find Cayce, and let the family have a proper burial and give them some closure. Prosecuting the case criminally takes a back seat to giving the family some relief. I firmly believe someone out there knows where she is.”
Acting on a tip, last Tuesday morning, July 17, 2018, Milan Police and FBI agents searched a farm near the Sitka community looking for remains of Cayce McDaniel. Using K9 dogs, the search turned up no evidence. Officers said the underbrush in the area was so thick, they couldn’t make much progress.
If you have any information, contact Milan Police at 686-3309, Crime Stoppers at (731) 424-8477, or the FBI at (901) 747-4300.
FBI investigation
Earlier this year, the FBI officially opened a case in regard to Cayce McDaniel. Prior to that, the FBI had only assisted Milan in the investigation.
“We’re working harder than we ever have on this case,” said Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers last week. “There’s literally ten to twelve officers working on this case every day.”
Sellers was working the MPD dispatch desk on the Saturday when Cayce’s mother, Cindy and her boyfriend, Steve Davenport, came in to report her missing.
The unsolved McDaniel case received new attention in recent years from police and the FBI.
Two years ago, Milan Police Investigator Dennis Mitchell was assigned to work with the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. Mitchell was chosen by the FBI because of his excellent history of solving cases that involved crimes where children were victims. Mitchell worked closely with the Department of Children’s Services, the Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, and as a DARE officer in Milan elementary schools.
“Dennis is great with kids and is very passionate about it,” said Chief Sellers.
A person close to the Cayce McDaniel family has said that before her disappearance, Cayce wrote letters to the Department of Children’s Services asking to be removed from the home. But that claim has not been verified publicly.
Officer Mitchell’s new assignment with the Child Exploitation Task Force came with top notch training and the use of hi-tech equipment to help solve crimes. In this capacity, Mitchell also helps neighboring police departments investigate cases involving children.
Mitchell’s first priority on the new Task Force was to reexamine evidence associated with the Cayce McDaniel case, said Chief Sellers. Mitchell and FBI Investigators were spending 50-60 hours a week reviewing the case.
During the investigations, Pete Hill, a Humboldt resident who was questioned in 1997, became a person of interest, and the investigation focused on him as the main suspect.
Chief Sellers said that with the help of the FBI, Pete Hill is now the main suspect in the McDaniel case.
“After reviewing his criminal history, background and his timeline on the night in question, we believe Mr. Hill knows what happened to Cayce,” the Chief said.
Sting operation
In 2005, Pete Hill was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and sentenced to serve 221 months (over 18 years) in prison. On Jan. 18, 2018, Hill was released from federal custody and placed on supervised release.
As soon as Hill was released from prison this year, an undercover Milan Police Department officer made contact with him using a fictional Facebook account.
Over six months, Mr. Hill developed a relationship with the undercover officer through social media, text messaging and phone calls.
The FBI was filtering through all of the messages, some of which included sexual and violent comments about juveniles. The FBI was so disturbed by the content of some of the messages, they felt Hill was an immediate threat and could be on the prowl for a victim.
Authorities set up a sting in Southhaven, Mississippi, where Hill thought he was meeting a juvenile at a motel for sex. Hill was arrested and last week was in custody at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason, an official said.
If convicted, on count one of his indictment, Hill faces not more than 30 years in federal prison, $250,000 fine and supervised release of five years up to life. On count two of the indictment, Hill faces 10 years up to life imprisonment, five years supervised release, and $250,000 fine.
“Let this indictment serve notice on those who use the internet and electronic means to exploit, abuse, and victimize minor children: You cannot hide, we will track you down, and you will be held accountable for such disturbing and predatory criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant in a published statement.
The Hill case was investigated by the Milan Police Dept. and Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals use federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about PSC, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Debra Ireland and Hillary Parham are prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.
Suspect overlooked
Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said last week that Pete Hill was somewhat overlooked by police as a suspect in the McDaniel disappearance because of two reasons. Initially, police were focused on a different subject as the prime suspect for the first four months of the investigation.
When Hill became a suspect in January of 1997, Mr. Hill’s wife provided a credible alibi for Hill’s whereabouts on the night Cayce disappeared.
At the time, witnesses told police that Hill had been at a party on Fly Road, just off State Route 187, where Cayce had also been seen earlier that night.
During the investigation of Hill, Milan Police and the FBI found several other women who made accusations against Mr. Hill, but never went to police out of fear, said officials.
Searching for ghosts
Public interest in the McDaniel case has been revived in recent years by an investigative podcast, “Searching For Ghosts,” created by Brandon Barnett. He has interviewed numerous people, including those close to the McDaniel family and law enforcement officers. Audio of some interviews is published on the podcast episodes.
Barnett said he has been exposed to “twenty-one years of the rumor mill” as he searched unsuccessfully for answers into McDaniel’s disappearance, and came to question the credibility of people’s claims.
“It seems like the police came up with the same conclusion I did,” said Barnett last week. “Once you clear out all the weeds, Pete Hill is the guy left standing.”
Barnett said that McDaniel’s mother had also pointed to Hill as a suspect early on in the case.
But Ms. McDaniel failed two polygraph tests, said a former Milan Police Department investigator in an audio interview published on “Searching For Ghosts.”
(PHOTO: Finis Ewin “Pete” Hill – courtesy Milan Mirror-Exchange)
