The Man in the Magic Hat

Jessica Gutierrez was only four (4) years old when she was kidnapped from her bedroom in Lexington, South Carolina on June 5, 1986.  The abductor broke into the house through a window.  Her sister, Rebecca, who was only six (6) years old at the time, had been in the room, as well.  She witnessed the abduction, but said nothing, out of fear, until their mother, Debra Gutierrez, came into the room and discovered that Jessica had been taken.  Rebecca could only describe the abductor as a “man with a magic hat” who had a beard and a mustache.  

Debra Gutierrez contacted the police and the investigation began.  According to Ms. Gutierrez, who I have had the privilege of speaking with, the police came to the home where Jessica had been taken and collected evidence, such as fingerprints.  On June 7, 1986, law enforcement returned with dogs and searched the home and surrounding areas.  Law enforcement questioned Debra Gutierrez, accused her of killing Jessica, and wanted to know where Debra had hidden her daughter’s body.  

When the police lifted fingerprints at the crime scene, they found a fresh fingerprint on Jessica Gutierrez’s window, but that print did not match any criminal records.  However, 10 weeks after Jessie went missing, that changed.  When the fingerprint was checked again against criminal records, it matched to a man who was arrested for breaking into a woman’s house and raping her.  That man was from West Columbia and turned out to be a Gutierrez family acquaintance, despite reports saying it was a family friend.  According to Ms. Gutierrez, it was her cousin’s husband’s nephew. 

Law enforcement searched the vehicle of the family acquaintance and found hair fibers that were highly characteristic to Jessica.  When DNA testing became available years later, the hair fibers were to be tested but there was a problem.  The Lexington County Sheriff’s Office had broken the chain of command and the evidence collected from Jessica Gutierrez’s case, along with evidence from many others, ended up being stored in an old tin building behind the Sheriff’s office which was not environmentally controlled.  This caused evidence in that building to be destroyed.  The only surviving evidence from Jessica’s case is the fingerprint from her window, which was classified by the FBI in Washington, D.C. as “highly fresh and not weathered”.  

Although the only evidence remaining was the fresh fingerprint, they also had a confession.  While the family acquaintance was in prison for the rape committed soon after Jessica went missing, he reportedly confessed to his cellmate that he had kidnapped and murdered a little girl in Lexington County, South Carolina and he had been wearing a cowboy hat when he did it.  According to Ms. Gutierrez, after Jessica’s disappearance, the family acquaintance shaved his mustache and beard, cut off his hair and gave away his cowboy hat.  

The name of the family acquaintance suspected of abducting Jessica has never been printed in the media and Debra Gutierrez has not released the name because law enforcement has told her not to.  Through my research, I believe I have uncovered the family acquaintance’s identity, but out of respect for Jessica’s family and the ongoing investigation, I will not publish it here.   

So if Lexington County knows who took Jessica, why hasn’t there been an arrest?  Prosecutors say there isn’t enough evidence and if you have ever read the news in Lexington County, it might be because the Sheriff at the time of Jessie’s disappearance, Sheriff James Metts, was corrupt as well much of Lexington County.  In 2014, Metts was charged with 10 counts of taking bribes.  He was also charged with conspiracy and wire fraud so it hard to tell if he was every really being honest about the investigation into Jessica Gutierrez’s abduction.  Aside from that, a taped conversation between Sheriff Metts and Debra Gutierrez, which took place soon after Jessica went missing, was released to the media.  The taped conversation came from Lexington County Sheriff’s Department’s own devices because when they suspected Debra Gutierrez of killing her daughter, they tapped her phone lines.  Here is a part of the conversation that continually came up in my research.

Sheriff Metts: "What do you want me to do? Someone's got to hold your hand, or out working?"

Gutierrez Garnsey: "Listen here. I don't need you to hold my hand. I - and I don't need you to get smart with me either."

Sheriff Metts: "I'm not going to get smart with you but you're not going to get smart with me either lady. I've been up all night long working on your case and I don't need your smart mouth."

Gutierrez Garnsey: "Oh really?"

Sheriff Metts: "No."

Gutierrez Garnsey: "When I ask you questions I need answers."

Sheriff Metts: "We'll give you answers when we got answers to give. Now you mess with me, I'll pull all my people off and we'll go home and go to bed and forget about your case."

Gutierrez Garnsey: "What could the president do about that? You mean to tell me that if I mess with you - you would pull all your people off this case, and go home and forget about my child?"

Sheriff Metts: "That's right."

Gutierrez Garnsey: "And what about the public that elected you to be in that office?"

Sheriff Metts: "They can elect me or not elect me because I don't really give a damn what they do."

Jessica’s mother has never felt that law enforcement in Lexington County did enough to find her daughter or make an arrest.  Debra Gutierrez said that she’s only ever had two real detectives help try to find her daughter.  Sadly, the first one passed away last year.  Her new and current detective with Lexington County is a good one she says, but she has yet to meet the new Sheriff of Lexington County, Jay Koon.     

Debra Gutierrez has relentlessly pushed law enforcement to keep working on her daughter’s investigation, even when Sheriff Metts pulled his people off of the case when he was still in office.  She knows her daughter is out there somewhere and will not rest until she finds her and gets justice for what happened.  Ms. Gutierrez is writing a book about what happened to Jessica and the years afterward, but she hasn’t finished it yet.  She said “I know exactly where I left off at, but no, I haven’t finished it because I need my Jessica to finish it.”  She still keeps in contact with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office and tries to make sure her daughter’s abduction stays in the media.  I can’t even imagine what she has gone through over the years.

I don’t know where the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department is on this case.  I do know that Debra Gutierrez has faith in the new detective assigned to it, but it is hard to say, even with Sheriff Metts out of office, whether or not Lexington County is still dealing with lies and corruption.  Only time will tell that, but what is most important is that everything that can be done to find Jessica is done.  Every lead needs to be followed.  A mother needs to find her daughter, a daughter needs to come home. 

M.