On a late autumn afternoon along Route 27 outside Ashford, traffic rolled on as usual until a five-year-old girl in a glittering fairy-tale gown screamed for her mother to stop the car.

Her name was Sophie Maren, a child with tangled blonde hair, light-up sneakers, and a stubbornness that seemed too big for her tiny frame. From the backseat she had begun to thrash against her seatbelt, insisting between sobs that “the motorcycle man” was dying down below the ridge.

Her mother, Helen, at first thought her daughter was overtired from kindergarten. There was no wreckage, no smoke, no reason to believe anyone was hurt. Yet Sophie tried to pry the buckle loose, crying that “the man with the leather jacket and beard” was bleeding. Reluctantly, Helen pulled to the shoulder to calm her.

Before the car had fully stopped, Sophie darted out, dress hem flying, and sprinted toward the grassy drop. Helen hurried after her—and froze.