Vanished: The Heather Elvis Case
Directors: Michael Bayer, Jeff Dean
Number of episodes in series: 3
Approximate running time: 40 mins – 1 hour
Directed by Michael Bayer and Jeff Dean, Vanished: The Heather Elvis Case is a three episode true crime documentary series about the case of Heather Elvis, a 20 year old woman who went missing in December, 2013. Taking place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the series charts the details of the case, including the subsequent trials and the relentless online abuse endured by Heather’s family, much of it propagated by the chief suspects in her disappearance.
When Heather went missing, she had been working as a waitress at a local bar-restaurant called the Tilt-and-Kilt, where she had become involved with the chief suspect, Sydney Moorer, a married man who had occasionally done maintenance work at the bar. According to various sources, Sydney’s wife Tammy had become pathologically jealous, particularly when it emerged that Heather might have been pregnant with Sydney’s baby.
Bayer and Dean tell the story through the use of extensive reconstruction sequences, which largely illustrate talking head interviews with a range of subjects that includes police detectives, prosecutors and Heather’s family members, father Terry, mother Debbi and sister Morgan, as well as her best friend, Brianna Warrelmann, who was apparently the last person to speak to Heather before she disappeared. By contrast, Sydney Moorer’s real-life appearances are from news footage, with the real-life Tammy conspicuous by her absence.
Initially, the case seems cut and dried, at least to the point of there being no other likely suspects, despite the fact that she had gone on a first date with a new man the night she disappeared. To that end, the series seems to be building to the court cases, the subject of the final episode, though Bayer and Dean keep things interesting by throwing in sudden twists, not least in the more bizarre details of Tammy and Sydney’s relationship.
The introduction of the social media aspect adds a new wrinkle, as the Elvis family are beset by trolls masquerading as well-meaning members of various Facebook groups. The net result is that suspicion is cast on both Terry and Morgan as having had something to do with the disappearance, although that doesn’t really go anywhere.
Intriguingly, even the internet trolls don’t have a bad word to say against Debbi Elvis, perhaps because, as her various interviews indicate, she seems to be one of the nicest people in South Carolina. At any rate, she provides useful insight into how internet trolls operate.
Occasionally, at least in the first two episodes, the series feels like it might have benefitted from a tighter focus, or perhaps a stronger angle with regard to the way social media and public reaction can negatively impact an ongoing investigation. It’s also fair to say that while the first episode is nicely paced, the second drags a little by comparison.
In short, despite some pacing issues and a slight lack of focus, this is an informative and well researched true crime series that’s consistently engaging and suspenseful, particularly if you’re not already familiar with the case. Worth a watch.
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