One of the crime scene techs dusted for finger prints of the advocates followed along tidying up with a spray cleaner and a cloth. Another tech saw the ransom note on the bottom step of the spiral staircase and photographed it but the photographed lied. The note had traveled from the stairs to Pasty’s hands, and then had been spread out on the hallway floor where John Ramsey and the police had read it and someone had put it back on the stairs. The photograph which was supposed to show exactly where evidence had been discovered was inaccurate.
Sergeant Whitson summoned detectives Fred Paterson and Linda Arndt then called other personnel from the sheriff’s department and the FBI. At 7:33 a K-9 unit with a tracking dog was put on standby. But no used. Had the dog been put to work immediately there was a strong chance it would have followed the scent of a missing child. This was another error. Time was going by swiftly and the two hour window during which the kidnapers had said they would call was about to expire. Ten o’clock cane and went. Detective Arndt thought it strange that no one including the Ramsey’s seemed to pay any attention to the deadline. Since no call had been received from the kidnappers the police began to various agencies now working the kidnapping.
This case was breaking wide open on two different fronts. About the same time Ramsey found the body of his daughter. A detective discovered what would mark a turning point in the investigation the existence of a possible practice ransom note in a tablet belonging to Patsy Ramsey.