WALLER: This interview is taking place on 09-15-83, at 10~10 a.m., and the interview is with JERALYNN SUE THARALDSON. Your date of birth Jeri? H () JERALYNN: 07-20-61. ~ '# WALLER: Where do you live now? JERALYNN: 3824 Grand Avenue. WALLER: And your telephone number? JERALYNN: 624-2280 WALLER: And this interview is being conducted by Lt. Waller concerning the death investigation of Sally Tharaldson and Virgil La Panta. Now as I said when we talked briefly before, turning the tape recorder on, you were interviewed by Sgt. Hall? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: A short time after your Mother's disappearance? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: And what we are going to do here is go over the in­ formation that you provided at that time, and also I am going to ask you some other questions. JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: And you are here on your own, correct? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: I understand that you are the natural daughter of both Jerry and SallY? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: Are there any other children that are? JERALYNN: The four boys, no. WALLER: Okay, they were Sally's children by a previous marriage. Is that correct? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: And that includes Terry, Tommy, e_ ..... ~~._._._'I!. JERALYNN: Timmy. -1­ WALLER: Timmy, JERALYNN: Tony. WALLER: And Tony, okay. Do you have any other sisters? JERALYNN: No. WALLER: And you were living with your parents .. JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: At the time that your Mother disappeared? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: Now, can we go back to that time. Do you remember it fairly clearly? JERALYNN: Not to 5 years ago, that's a while. WALLER: Okay, but can you remember it pretty much what occurred that day? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: Okay, because when you were interviewed before you said that you had came home late? JERALYNN: Late, the night before, yeah. WALLER: What time did you get home that night? JERALYNN: Gee, I must have got home, okay that would have been the following night before, I must have got home three, must have been about three o'clock in the morning, somewheres around there, I was late. WALLER: And you were 17 at the time. JERALYNN: Seventeen, yeah, at a party somewhere, suppose to be home and not on time, you know. WALLER: And because of that you were grounded? JERALYNN: Yeah, grounded the next day. WALLER: Okay, was that a decision by both your Mother and Father that you do that? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: And you also had to mow the lawn? JERALYNN: I had to mow the lawn that day, and clean the basement, you know. -2­ WALLER: Now you were ~round the house? JERALYNN: All day. WALLER: All night? JERALYNN: All night, right. WALLER: And in your initial investigation interview you said that your Mother and Father left during the day for a period of time? JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: And you thought that they got home in the late after­ noon? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: Had they been drinking at all when they got home? JERALYNN: Okay, when they got home, no, they hadn't been drinking, because I believe they had the house up at 912 then, up in Piedmont, that they were working on at the time, and my Dad had been up there working most of the day, and my Mother left to go pick him up. She missed him by picking him up because I think he was walking home. So they both got home, but later that evening that's when they were drinking, later on that evening. WALLER: They hadn't had anything to drink before they came home then? JERALYNN: No. WALLER: Stopped anyplace? JERALYNN: No. WALLER: Do you know if they went back out, went to any bars? JERALYNN: I, gees .... WALLER: Together? JERALYNN: NO F I think my Dad went out late now, yeah, he went out later that evening but roy Mother was home. I remember that she was home because it had to be about 2:00 o'clock in the morning when she tried to wake me up, see. WALLER: Okay. JERALYNN: She came up to the bedroom, tried to wake me up. -3­ JERALYNN: (Cont'd.) I was so tired from doing all the work that I did, I ~aid I wanted to go back to sleep, okay, so I went back to sleep. Woke up, I woke up early the next morning because I remember I went downstairs, my Dad was laying on the couch sleeping, looked around, we had my brother's dog there, Gretchen, at the time, a German shepard dog. Okay, she wasn't there, looked outside the window, the car wasn't there, checked the house, she wasn't there, I woke my Dad up, and he said he didn't know. So that's when we continued to start looking for her around. WALLER: Okay. JERALYNN: See, because she had done that before. WALLER: How long had she been long in the past when she left? JERALYNN: Oh, I'd say maybe a day at the most, if even a day. She'd always call. WALLER: Overnight? JERALYNN: Not really over night, maybe two, three o'clock in the morning. WALLER: Okay. JERALYNN: Something like that. WALLER: Had that been when she was drinking? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: Did you know where she was on those occasions? JERALYNN: Okay, one time I think she was up in Floodwood in a hotel room by herself. WALLER: How did she get up there? JERALYNN: She drove, she had the car, she drove up there, and that's about the only time she ever went actually away. I think another time was maybe over in a hotel over in Superior by herself, drinking. WALLER: Is this when Jerry and her would have arguments? JERALYNN: Not maybe really arguments 9 she'd just do that. See, she drank quite heavily actually. When she drank, she drank, you know, wasn't sociable. WALLER: When she drank, what would stop her from drinking? -4­ JERALYNN: What do you mean? WALLER: What would cause her to stop drinking? JERA:LYNN: What would cause her to stop drinking? Well, wake up the next morning, and just not drink, you know. WALLER: Okay, so she'd pass our or go to sleep? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: And would she start up the next morning? JERALYNN: No, sometimes, sometimes she wculd, but see I was going to, I was in school then, and so when she'd get up in the morning, you know, we'd eat breakfast, whatever, I'd get ready and go to school, I usually come home for lunch around noon, you know, so on and etc., she'd make dinner, you know watch TV, just you know. WALLER: Did she drink every day? JERALYNN: No. WALLER: How about Jerry? JERALYNN: No. They drank, but never every day. WALLER: Mostly on weekends? JERALYNN: Oh, sometimes on weekends, yeah, Fridays, Saturdays. Maybe once in a while during the week, you know. It wasn't very often though that they drank. WALLER: But when your Mother drank .she didn't stop until she fell asleep or passed out? JERALYNN: Right, well no, not exactly fell asleep, but passed because she could drink, and she could drink a lot. WALLER: What's a lot? JERALYNN: Well, I'd say a quart. WALLER: By herself? JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: Now that evening you said, when you were interviewed before, that your Dad had gone over to Superior to get a quart of whiskey, around 6:30,7:00 o'clock. JERA,LYNN: Okay, that must be when they came home then, after that. -5­ JERALYNN: (Cont1d.) ·If that's what I said, that had to be back then see, it's just been such a long time that I don't remember. I'm sure that's probably when they started having a few drinks, well it must have been about that time then. WALLER: How Were they getting along? JERALYNN: How were they? WALLER: Getting along? JERALYNN: They were getting along fine, Actually, you know, I don1t know if other people have said they had a rocky marriage, but it wasn't really. No worse than anybody~alaBsmarriage, you know. He's always real good to her, you know, so. WALLER: The reason I am asking this because she had told Mrs. Beaudin that she was going to leave your Dad that early morning, okay? JERALYNN: Okay, now I knew..... WALLER: And she was going to take you with. JERALYNN: Oh, really? WALLER: Yeah. JERALYNN: Now, she hadn't been drinking that morning she told me that though. WALLER: NO, no, when I say early morning I mean the early morning when she come up '00 wake you up. JERALYNN: Okay. WALLER: Okay, when she was drunk. JERALYNN: Yes. WALLER: And that's why I'm asking how they were getting along to see why she'd take off like that? . JERALYNN: Yes WALLER: Because wasn't it unusual that she'd do this? JERALYNN: That she would take off? WALLER: Yes. JERALYNN: Oh yeah. WALLER: Now let me go back a little bit. -6­ JERALYNN: Okay. WALLER: Now after your Dad got back with the bottles, do you remember that they called you downstairs about eight or nine o'clock, and you had a drink with them? JERALYNN: It's possible. I know he was up in my room a lot that day too. WALLER: I suppose things were kind of strained between the three of you? JERALYNN: Yeah. WALLER: How's that? That's what you said, that you had been up in your room.