Missouri woman allegedly kept in cage: Case surrounded by secrecy and speculation
Before noon, the curious had gathered along Moon Valley Road in this tiny Missouri Ozarks community.
Three carloads of people had driven in Sunday morning from nearby towns — Lebanon, Bolivar and Springfield — just to see the place, get a feel for it. And determine if what they had read on blogs and social media posts about a brutal crime could possibly be true.
Most of all, they wanted to take a look at the cabin, a dilapidated structure tucked behind trees wrapped in purple “no trespassing” tape. Here is where, court records say, Cassidy Rainwater, a 33-year-old woman officially reported missing in late August, was kept in a cage near Windyville, in Dallas County, about 160 miles southeast of Kansas City.
Photos of Rainwater’s partially nude body inside the cage were sent anonymously to the Kansas City office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month. That tip launched what has become a secretive, weeks-long criminal investigation that promises to extend much longer and possibly grow much larger.
Two men — James D. Phelps, 58, and Timothy L. Norton, 56 — are charged with kidnapping Rainwater and facilitating a felony, inflicting injury and terrorizing, according to court records. Authorities haven’t said anything about Rainwater. Officially, she is still reported as missing.
Indeed, few facts have been released. And that has only fueled the swarm of rumors and sensational details that leave many wondering what really happened at 386 Moon Valley Road.
“Can we go back there?” one person asked the group of strangers Sunday, wondering if it was OK to get closer for a photo. “It’s not taped off.”
The cabin where Phelps lived, in fact, and surrounding property showed no sign they had been a crime scene. No yellow police tape. No cones or makeshift barriers left behind. A beat-up old van rested in the yard, not far from what appeared to be a large metal cage.
By Monday night, the mystery had only deepened, not just for the onlookers and locals but law enforcement. Phelps’ home burned to the ground. And fire crews discovered what appeared to be a makeshift tripwire. They called in the Springfield Fire Department’s Bomb Squad, which early Tuesday morning detonated an incendiary device.
The blaze and authorities’ refusal to provide any information about it — including why the scene had not been secured — further frustrated many.
“Update...the Dallas County sheriff’s department didn’t have a 24 hour watch on the house and now it’s on fire,” one man wrote on the agency’s Facebook page.
Added another: “Why hasn’t this location been sealed and protected?”
Local investigators still weren’t saying anything Wednesday. Dallas County Sheriff Scott Rice hasn’t returned several calls from The Star since Friday. The Springfield Fire Department did not respond to a request for information about the Bomb Squad’s involvement.
And a dispatcher from the county’s 911 system was just as tight-lipped Monday night: “Anyone involved in the incident is not making a statement or releasing any information at this time.”
Scanner traffic captured by Broadcastify.com gave a tiny glimpse of what fire crews were up against Monday night. Around 8:40 p.m., a voice came over the dispatch audio for the Polk, Hickory and Dallas counties public safety channel.
“Would you respond to Windyville for a structure fire? Moon Valley Road, requesting assistance with traffic.”
Then another voice: “386 Moon Valley Road, 386 Moon Valley Road. Request for tanker support. Going to be a fully engulfed structure fire.”
And shortly after 9 p.m.: “Be advised one live incendiary device has been located. The fire marshal has been contacted, will be en route.”
Just the day before, those who had come to look at the cabin couldn’t have imagined it would soon be gone. Just an old van and metal cage left behind.
“I think this is going to be a blown-up big deal when it’s finally done,” said Brian Anthony, of Lebanon, who drove over Sunday afternoon with his wife. “I think when it’s all said and done, it’s going to blow people’s minds.”
On Moon Valley Road
Rainwater’s photo appeared on the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page Sept. 1 under the words “Missing Person.”
And authorities wanted the public’s help.
“Cassidy has been missing since July 25th,” the social post read. “She has associations in Dallas, Laclede, and Greene counties.”
That was it. And there have been few facts released since. Only scant details found in court records explaining charges against Phelps and Norton have provided reliable information.
In late August, the department took the missing person report and discovered that Rainwater hadn’t been seen for six weeks. During his follow-up investigation, Sgt. Robby Simmons learned that Phelps was the last person to have contact with her, court records show.
The day the missing person report was posted on Facebook, Simmons spoke to Phelps at his cabin.
“According to James, (Rainwater) had been staying with him until she could get back on her feet,” Simmons wrote in his probable cause statement related to the charges filed against Phelps. “James told me she was talking about going to Colorado. James stated about a month prior to this date, (Rainwater) had left in the middle of the night. She had met with a vehicle at the end of the driveway in the dark and he has not seen or heard from her since.”
Before Simmons left the residence that day, Phelps showed him around the property and took him to the loft area where Rainwater had been staying, court records show.
“The loft was somewhat stripped and I did not find any personal belongings of (Rainwater) at this time,” Simmons said in the affidavit.
About two weeks after that day, everything changed.
The FBI office in Kansas City had received a tip from an anonymous person who provided some photos. The person was “advising there was a photo of a missing person named CR being held in a cage.”
Special agent Trisha DeWet of the KC office contacted Simmons in Dallas County on Sept. 16. He recognized the caged woman — who was partially nude — as Rainwater.
That same day, Simmons went back to Moon Valley Road and spoke to Phelps. This time, the Dallas County sergeant arrested the man and took custody of his cellphone.
“At the time the phone was seized, (Rainwater) had not been located,” Simmons wrote in his affidavit. “…There were a total of 7 photos of (Rainwater) in a partially nude state being held in a cage within the Phelps residence at 386 Moon Valley Road in Lebanon Missouri, within Dallas County.”
During the investigation, court records show, officers identified Timothy Norton as a person connected with the case. They interviewed him on Sept. 19. Norton told them that he was an over-the-road trucker and that he lived in his truck “even when he was not actively transporting a load for delivery.”
After Norton’s interview, officers continued to investigate, and it became evident that he had provided some inaccurate information, according to court records.
Officers interviewed Norton again on Sept. 20 at the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. Norton confessed that he knew that Rainwater was being held at the home of James Phelps and that she had been kept in a cage, the affidavit said. Norton further confessed that on July 24, Phelps had contacted Norton to come to Phelps’ home, the affidavit said.
“Norton then admitted that after arriving at Phelps’ home he did physically confine CR by holding her down for a substantial period of time, for the purpose of facilitating the commission of a felony, or inflicting physical injury on, or terrorizing CR,” the document said.
Norton’s attorney, Branden Twibell, said Wednesday morning that “the only comment I can make at this time is that Mr. Norton denies all of the allegations and we are collecting and reviewing the evidence.”
“Our priority is determining what the facts are in this case — not the rumors.”
‘No immediate danger to the public’
Much of what is known about this case — or what many onlookers believe to be true — has been gleaned from blogs and internet forums.
And people across the Ozarks say they want to know more about a crime that has consumed their community. The case is also starting to get national attention.
It’s why many have been drawn to Moon Valley Road.
“We just wanted to come down here and see what it all was about,” said Mike Terry, of Springfield, who drove there Sunday with his brother and nephew. “I got to thinking, ‘These guys could have been pulling this off for years.’
“This is so bizarre.”
Privately, long-time law enforcement officers who have heard details inside their circles use words like “gruesome” and “unbelievable” to describe what’s unfolding in Windyville.
The three Terry relatives stood along the gravel road as four more people arrived. Other onlookers drove by, some craning their necks to see the run-down house back in the trees.
One woman questioned why authorities “haven’t come out about any of this at all.” No one has dispelled the rumors, she said.
And that can create the impression that all of the stories and details are true and allow imaginations to run wild.
“We as a community deserve to know that something happened,” one onlooker said Sunday.
On Sept. 18, a day after Phelps was charged, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office wrote a brief summary of the case on its Facebook page.
“Due to the extreme nature of the crime and the continuation of the investigation, additional details cannot be released at this time,” the post said. “There is no immediate danger to the public.”
Phelps’ public defender did not respond to a request for comment.
But some who know Phelps are frustrated at what they see as a rumor mill run amok. One person with the last name Phelps posted a response on Sept. 19 to the hundreds of comments on the sheriff’s office Facebook page.
“I would honestly like to know what happened to innocent until proven guilty,” it said, “because all of you guys have decided that he’s guilty and you know nothing about him for the situation and I hope that each and every one of you someday in your life have to deal with the same exact situation and you look back on this and realize everything you are putting his loved ones through just think about it have any of you ever been accused of something you didn’t do?”
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 2:43 PM.