The Lisa Irwin missing baby case gets even more confusing each day. Now we find that there were three people on that front porch at the Irwin/Bradley house October 3, 2011. We also hear that a man named Dane, who was living in the same house with Megan Wright, had her telephone at some point during that fateful evening. Wright says her temporary roommates shared that information only recently. She, in turn, told the authorities.
Wright is the latest among the media interviewees in this Kansas City case gone national. When I caught up with Wright today, she had just completed a visit by CNN’s Jim Spellman, as well as a phone interview with CNN. Here is a transcript of our conversation to shed some light on a very confusing issue.
Wright is the latest among the media interviewees in this Kansas City case gone national. When I caught up with Wright today, she had just completed a visit by CNN’s Jim Spellman, as well as a phone interview with CNN. Here is a transcript of our conversation to shed some light on a very confusing issue.
Wright: (CNN reporter Jim Spellman) seems to be one of the few that has a pretty damn good understanding of everything that's going on; which is admirable, considering how confusing this whole case is. It's easy to get wrapped up in a sea of interviews.
I've never been very fond of being in front of a camera, but I put my fear aside hoping that opening up to the public, and anyone with a question, that something I say might bring Lisa home safely.
Rugen: If she's alive.
Wright: I sincerely hope she is. I know if you look at how long she's been gone it would take a miracle for her to be alive and well, but I hope that's what happens here.
Rugen: Do you think it's hard to believe she is alive with all of the different versions of the story the family has put out?
Wright: I try not to speculate, just stick to what I know. It seems fishy to me that the story has changed. But at the same time I know that anything is possible. There are so many versions of what people think have happened. I know how hard it is to be on the wrong end of that, which is why I try not to jump to conclusions.
Rugen: What time was that phone call made to your phone? I heard once 8:30 p.m. and then I heard 2:30 a.m.
Wright: I'm not sure exactly. When I got my phone back, my call log was deleted along with my messages. At first the police said around 8:00 pm, but later I was told it was more like 2:30 on the morning of the 4th.
Rugen: I saw your interview. Dane had the phone?
Wright: From what I was told by everyone upstairs [where my phone was].
Rugen: Your roomies?
Wright: Yes.
Rugen: Do you know why he took it with him?
Wright: Well, now ex roomies. Why he took it with him?
Rugen: Oh he didnt take it with him he just used it? It’s a bit confusing. Dane had the phone. Shane is the new person that was on the Bradley front porch?
Wright: I'm not sure what Dane was doing that night. Shane I guess is a neighbor of Deborah Bradley; a few doors down. From what I heard, I'm not sure if Dane left or if he was at the house all night. Like I have said before, I was downstairs for a majority of the evening.
Rugen: Okay, was he living with you?
Wright: He stayed there for a couple days the first time, and about a week the second time while he said he was waiting for an apartment with a friend.
Rugen: So you are just kind of someone who is a giving person if friends need a place to stay?
Wright: Everyone in the house was in a pretty bad position in life; job loss, loss of a home, etc. Everyone was understanding of needing a hand up, not a hand out.
Rugen: How did you meet all of them?
Wright: I was introduced by my friend after the last house I was living in was being put on the market for sale. I was given 12 hours to pack and move out. I had nowhere to go. So my buddy introduced me, and we hit it off immediately. They were all understanding to my situation and thought that we could help each other out. They offered me a place to stay, and I helped with cooking, cleaning etc.
Rugen: So you all have common friends and that's how they find out they can have a temp place to stay? Was this your place?
Wright: I wouldn't say it like that. It wasn't a flop house as it was said to be on Fox. We were all struggling and trying to pull resources to help everyone better their situations. Not just a place to couch surf.
No it was not my place, and I'm no longer living there.
Rugen: Oh you moved since the baby's disappearance? You're not there anymore?
Wright: I was asked to move because the home owner has a family member who was going to move in and help with bills.
Rugen: So this is not a “meth house” as the internet bloggers have speculated? When did you move?
Wright: It's very tough to see the house presented that way, because it's not the case. The people are wonderful and caring and considerate and as nice as could be. Just because they helped out friends doesnt make them drug users or anything else that was said in that report.
Wright: It's very tough to see the house presented that way, because it's not the case. The people are wonderful and caring and considerate and as nice as could be. Just because they helped out friends doesnt make them drug users or anything else that was said in that report.
I moved on Sunday night, this week. I'm staying with a friend for the moment. But it's only temporary. I'm afraid I have to move to Springfield for lack of other options. I'm hoping it's a blessing in disguise.
Rugen: So some of the residents may have used drugs but not characteristic of the house as a whole?
Wright: I never noticed any drug use. But I primarily stuck to myself.
Rugen: What about “Jersey”?
Wright: Where to start?! (laughing) What about him?
Rugen: Did I hear you say in an interview he was drug user and that you used to date at one time?
Wright: I told an interviewer that I suspected that he was. I never witnessed it. But I had speculated that he had used before, if not at that time.
Rugen: When did you guys date?
Wright: I dated Jersey for 5 months. He was wonderful for the first 3, then he started acting "shady" is the way to say it, I guess. He started living life with a jailhouse mentality, and that's just not my lifestyle.
Rugen: What time period?
Wright: I met Jersey in late April/early May and we began dating shortly after. And we broke up about two weeks before Lisa went missing.
Rugen: So did you or Jersey ever meet Deborah Bradley or Jeremy Irwin?
Wright: I'm not sure. He never mentioned it, and while we were together I never witnessed them talking or anything like that. Jersey and I had walked through the neighborhood multiple times a week to get from the house we were living in to his friends’ house off of Chelsea, right down the road from where the family lived.
Rugen: But you never met them yourself?
Wright: No, I had never met them.
Rugen: Now if Dane had the phone it really makes one wonder if he met Deborah and maybe they were fooling around? Because you don't butt dial or randomly dial a number of someone just down the street you never knew before.
Wright: I hate to speculate. It could have been any of a number of things.
Rugen: Like?
Wright: Someone stole the phone and tried to reach me, wrong number, someone calling for someone who had used my phone as a contact number [which was pretty damn common]
Rugen: So Deborah could have been trying to reach Dane or Jersey?
Wright: It's possible, I suppose.
Rugen: Do you think one of them was seeing Deborah romantically.
Wright: Like I said, anything is possible.
Wright: Like I said, anything is possible.
Rugen: What kind of work are you doing now?
Wright: I've been so enthralled with the case I haven't had time or the opportunity to look for work. I'm just barely scraping by.
Rugen: Enthralled by your accidental involvement via the cell phone?
Wright: Yes, trying to figure something, anything out. Doing the interviews. It's been one hell of a time suck. I had to quit school because my car died on me. Once I finally got the money and the part and someone to fix it, my car goes up in flames, magically, 3 days after I break up with Jersey
Rugen: Do you think Jersey may have sabotaged it?
Wright: It's possible.
Rugen: Do you think if Jersey knows anything about Baby Lisa he will buckle?
Wright: Maybe? Maybe not.
Rugen: Do you think he knows anything or he was one of the people the alleged eyewitnesses think they saw?
Wright: I honestly have no idea. It's possible that it was him that was sighted.
Rugen: Did he ever say anything to you about stuff he pulled on people?
Wright: He never mentioned specifics. I did ask him to tell me about any and all criminal history, and I got a vague answer, but any time I would pry for details... he would shut down. So I stopped asking. I told him as long as the past stayed in the past, we would be fine. But it didn't stay in the past for long.
Rugen: What did you see in him initially? Why didnt it stay in the past long?
Wright: He was a sweet guy, very funny and talkative. charming, as you can imagine. All the good things women look for-- he had it. But after about three months, the jailhouse mentality kicked in again.
Rugen: Did you ever see him do any drugs?
Wright: I never witnessed it. No.
Rugen: What kind of things did he do that showed that mentality.
Wright: Always thinking on his feet, trying to turn a dime into a dollar... just the way he acted and the way he spoke and treated me. I wouldn't stand for it.
Rugen: How did he treat you?
Wright: Like less than an equal. Like I was supposed to be subserviant to him
Rugen: So you were sharing your phone with others in the house? Any specific examples of subserviant or disrespect?
Rugen: Do you think if Jersey knows anything about Baby Lisa he will buckle?
Wright: Maybe? Maybe not.
Rugen: Do you think he knows anything or he was one of the people the alleged eyewitnesses think they saw?
Wright: I honestly have no idea. It's possible that it was him that was sighted.
Rugen: Did he ever say anything to you about stuff he pulled on people?
Wright: He never mentioned specifics. I did ask him to tell me about any and all criminal history, and I got a vague answer, but any time I would pry for details... he would shut down. So I stopped asking. I told him as long as the past stayed in the past, we would be fine. But it didn't stay in the past for long.
Rugen: What did you see in him initially? Why didnt it stay in the past long?
Wright: He was a sweet guy, very funny and talkative. charming, as you can imagine. All the good things women look for-- he had it. But after about three months, the jailhouse mentality kicked in again.
Rugen: Did you ever see him do any drugs?
Wright: I never witnessed it. No.
Rugen: What kind of things did he do that showed that mentality.
Wright: Always thinking on his feet, trying to turn a dime into a dollar... just the way he acted and the way he spoke and treated me. I wouldn't stand for it.
Rugen: How did he treat you?
Wright: Like less than an equal. Like I was supposed to be subserviant to him
Rugen: So you were sharing your phone with others in the house? Any specific examples of subserviant or disrespect?
Wright: The statement from him that ended our relationship [my choice] was when he looked at me after looking for a lighter of his and said "Empty your mother fuckin pockets" [sorry for language, but it stung and I remember it vividly.]
Rugen: So tell me about this phone.
Wright: It was one of the things I could contribute to the house. The use of my phone, my food stamps toward groceries for everyone, cooking, cleaning, etc. It was just an understanding in the house. As long as I wasn't in the middle of a text conversation or using my phone at that second, sure. It was fair game.
Rugen: Okay. It's confusing for people about all those in the home. Can you tell me their names and their relationship if any?
Wright: I'd prefer to not give names of the people living in the home. My name was released to the public and it turned into a feeding frenzy. These people are wonderful and they have children and lives... I just couldn't do that to them. I wouldn't want to break that trust that we've built. Just because I'm not staying there doesn't mean they aren't my friends. They haven't done anything wrong. They were questioned by police and cleared. So in my opinion, they have no involvement in the case and I'd prefer to keep their names out of everything.
