Lesley Herring: Did this Starbucks receipt help solve this murder?
The history of coffee dates back to 850 CE, though possibly a little earlier given other records and legends surrounding its first use. We have evidence of either coffee drinking or just knowledge of the coffee tree going back to the early fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. Soon, it spread to Mecca and Medina.
The Grecian Coffee House in Devereux Court hosted meetings and lectures by famous scientists including Issac Newton, Dr. Edmond Halley and the President of the Royal Sanctuary. Other names Samuel Doody, Marin Lister, and William Sherard 一 they’re from the worlds of natural philosophy and botany. Famous poets were also regular customers. We could only imagine the conversations that lived inside this coffee house.
When it came to the cowboys of the 1800s, they would rise before daybreak, have a breakfast of bacon, bread, beans and coffee before saddling up for another eighteen hour day in the saddle. In a way, we do the same today too, only they’re usually eight hour days!
What’s our point? Coffee has been around for centuries in society. So it’s funny to believe that some people didn’t think Starbucks was going to make it. They’ve definitely flourished as a franchise. Maybe, you’re surprised they made it (0nly because you find their drinks too expensive) but chances are, you never thought they’d be involved with a murder.
What happened to Lesley Herring? And did this Starbucks receipt help solve this murder?
A not so happy marriage
Sometimes, happiness and marriage is like peanut butter and jam. But other times, “despair” can easily replace happiness. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a Disneyfied marriage.
Lesley and Lyle Herring met at a 99 Cent Store and were married within a year. Lesley was thirty-three and an immigrant hailing from Guyana. Lyle was eager to show his wife around town. The two wore matching outfits. Understandably, everyone on the outside believed the two were living a blissful life together.
One the inside, one would see that Lesley was responsible with a steady job. She worked for a home security company. But Lyle was very irresponsible though he worked as a college recruiter at California State University, Northridge.
One day, Lesley wrote Lyle a letter, saying how unhappy she was with him. She told him she wanted to leave him. Lyle didn’t take the news very well. Only he knows what happened to his wife following her disappearance. The two were married for eleven years.
Disappearance
February 9th, 2009, Lesley’s folks received a phone call from her job that she hadn’t shown up for two days. It was very unlike Herring being as though she never took days off at her job. She was last seen three days prior while leaving from work. The final communication anybody had with her took place on the 8th, via her cell phone.
You may recognize her sister from Grey’s Anatomy and Friday Night Lights, Asha Davis. After several hours of searching, she reported her sister missing. Lyle was also nowhere to be found. When the police searched their home, they found Lesley’s keys, wallet, cell phone, purse, even her $26,000 savings which was left untouched.
There was no evidence pinpointing a break-in. But a hardened candle was knocked over and a bunch of bald up towels were left lying around the house. With no other information for tools, police were forced to conclude that the couple had either run away together or were caught up in something. But surely, a $26,000 savings would have gone with them.
Starbucks
Now, what does Starbucks have to do with a missing persons case? First, let’s back up a bit. Lyle, after cutting his hair, was found trying to cross over into Mexico almost two weeks after his wife’s disappearance. Odd that he would try to leave the country with his wife still missing.
Lyle told authorities that he borrowed money from a dangerous gang who shaved his head for not paying his debt. He also claimed to not know where Lesley was, saying he thought that maybe she decided to go away for a little bit. He said that he and his wife planned to go to Rosarito for Valentine’s Day. Lyle was hoping to find Lesley there.
But Lyle shut down after giving authorities the additional information, convincing them he had something to hide. An intriguing but maybe lucky find popped up in the Herring house. It was a Starbucks receipt in Lesley’s purse, and dated three days after she had gone missing.
In the police follow-up, CCTV footage showed Lyle walking into a Starbucks, buying a drink. Searches on his computer showed the following plans: ‘U.S.-Mexico Border’, U.S.-Texas-Mexico Border,’ ‘Do I need a passport?’, ‘Which country do I flee to?’ and ‘What’s the weather like in Belize?’.
Lyle’s cooperation with authorities just makes this case all the more strange and inconclusive.
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What happened to Lesley Herring? Do you too find it strange that Lyle was shopping at a Starbucks a few days after he and his wife were reported missing? Tell us what you think down below!
