News anchor, David Hutchins, stands in front of an old pawn shop. A sign hangs on the door stating, “We will be back soon” in calligraphy. The glass door shimmers in the sunlight and seems ordinary at first glance. If a viewer held an eye for detail, they might notice the small red splatter that graced the bottom right corner. David stands a few feet away from the door and holds his weight on the balls of his feet. Only when the cameraman pulls off the lens cover does David center his weight on his feet. With a quick run of David’s fingers through his hair, he then graces the camera lens with his well paid for smile. The red light on the camera flickers to life.

    “My name is David Hutchins, CNX News, and I’m here to bring you the latest update on what the internet is calling the Murder of the Yellow Ribbons. I am here at J’s Pawn Shop in southern Bountiful, Utah, and this is where the last victim was found two days ago. Before that, as many of you know, bodies had been found every evening for three weeks. It was found in recent days that the bodies found matched the DNA of missing children from many years ago. Now all victims were males and in between their late twenties to early forties. The authorities have no official statement on whether or not they believe a serial killer is here in the Bountiful area, but this news crew recommends that you take extra precautions. There has still been no confirmation of capture. With the sudden lull in killings, could that mean the end of this venture? If so, why stop now? The manager of this establishment could not be reached for comment. Back to you at CNX.”

    David moved away from the door as soon as the red light dimmed on the camera. Sunlight still revealed the parts of the mess that had been missed by the cleaning crew. The splatter on the door, a fragment of yellow ribbon tied around the inner door handle, and a dark spot on the carpet that would only come out through replacement. The cameraman matched David’s pace to get away from J’s Pawnshop. Both men fit the descriptions of the victims with David at 35 and the cameraman at 28, the only factor that didn’t fit them was that neither of them was missing children in their lives. On the playback feed of the initial coverage of J’s Pawnshop, the image of a yellow ribbon tied around a wrist with a missing right hand flickered. 

    David always watched the police footage or looked at the forensic pictures before a story. The detective that brought him the details warned him off of this story but still gave him the images. Not a single news crew or law enforcement agency understood the murders, or why they stopped.