Long search spurred by false report

Jemerson Jay Gould, 40, is facing a felony charge of first-degree burglary plus four misdemeanors, including impersonating a police officer. The charges were filed after he repeatedly told an alleged lie that led at least seven law enforcement and first-responder agencies to spend about three hours looking in and around Weatherford for a missing 5-year-old girl who evidently does not exist.
Information from a lengthy affidavit written by Custer County Deputy Sheriff Dylan King indicates Gould told various people the little girl was his daughter and she was missing. After an estimated 50 people searched for her for about three hours on Saturday, Feb. 9, a Weatherford police officer who knew Gould because he had arrested him a few days before was contacted and said he didn’t think he had a 5-year-old daughter. Rather, the officer, Sgt. Casey Clark, said it was his understanding Gould has 12-year-old and 16-year-old daughters but they live in New Mexico.
King’s affidavit said that originally, the distraught “father” had reported the missing daughter’s name as Rosie. But at some point, after officers had searched extensively on the ground as well as from the air by helicopter, Gould advised that Rosie was his dog’s name and his daughter was really a step-daughter and her name was Crystal. He supposedly admitted that she wasn’t 5 years old either, but 27, which authorities questioned as well since the suspect is only 40 himself.
Upon hearing the conflicting information about the girl’s name and age, King wrote that he drove Gould back to the incident command center where nume-rous other first-responders gathered around as the suspect started telling his story again. King said he began by stating that the little girl was still missing, then said she was with her mother, and finally advised that it was a dream and he didn’t know if she was missing or not.
The search evidently had started on the southeast side of Weatherford but had extended up towards Thomas, where a woman lived whom Gould claimed was the child’s mother. She resided somewhere between Thomas and Weatherford off State Highway 54.
“We decided that I should go up there to try and find Gould (who also had disappeared by then) or Washa (supposedly the mother) to figure out if a little girl was actually missing or if he even had a daughter,” Deputy King wrote.
Upon arrival at the site off S.H. 54, he said he found both Gould and Washa in the former’s maroon BMW. He said he asked Gould if he had a daughter and the “father” wanted to know if she had been found. That’s when Gould advised that Rosie was the dog’s name and King told him helicopters as well as people on the ground had been searching for her.
The deputy was unsure if he could arrest Gould at that point because he thought they might be on Indian Trust Land where federal authorities have jurisdiction. So instead, King said he returned to Weatherford and started collecting statements from neighbors who had been involved. They included Maria Kixmiller, whose house Gould allegedly had pushed his way into after telling her he was a police officer.
That led to the only felony charge, first-degree burglary, since he allegedly entered that house uninvited while it was occupied by a human being.
The other misdemeanors were false reporting of a crime, breaking and entering a dwelling without permission, and malicious injury to property under $1,000. Sheriff Kenneth Tidwell said he also was written a ticket for drunk driving.
One of the charges said Gould forcibly kicked in the door of Mrs. Kixmiller’s house to gain entrance. Phillip Kixmiller, who was listed as the owner, estimated it would cost approximately $150 to fix the door.
Agencies involved in the search, besides the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and Weatherford Police Department, included the Weatherford Fire Department, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Lifeguard Ambulance Service, Hydro Fire Department and Thomas Police Department.
Lifeguard had its helicopter up, and Sheriff Kenneth Tidwell said consideration was being given to asking OHP for air support when the search was called off about 3:40 p.m. It had begun at 11:57 a.m. when Darren Wingo called the Sheriff’s Office after Gould told him his daughter was missing.
Tidwell said his department had 10 people out looking, including himself, Undersheriff Sean Staggs and two reserve deputies.
He said a command post furnished by the Weatherford Fire Department had been set up to coordinate the search.
“Chief Karlin (Weatherford Fire Chief Mike Karlin) and I were figuring out how we were going to do a grid search,” said Tidwell. “We were 99 percent sure it was a bogus deal, but supposedly there was a 5-year-old girl that was lost. He finally admitted his daughter was not missing. It was an extreme relief to all of us that there wasn’t a child out there lost.”
Information filed with the charges gives two separate addresses for Gould, one in Weatherford and one in Norman. The one in Weatherford was 2707 Harvest Dr. which Tidwell said is almost two miles south of Interstate 40 off Airport Road.
Gould’s address Friday was still the Custer County Jail where he was being held in lieu of bonds totaling just over $50,000.