The sudden disappearance of four people from a small town in Ohio in 2010 triggered a major manhunt and the unearthing of one of the most bizarre and horrifying crime scenes.
As police pieced together the final hours of the missing, they found evidence which led to the home of tree surgeon Matthew Hoffman.
Here they found a house filled with leaves and a 13-year-old held hostage in his basement.
Now a new two-part documentary The Basement: a Vanishing in Apple Valley, airing on Channel 5 on Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 April, recounts the true story behind the disappearance, how the victims were found and the man dubbed “The Leaf Killer” who was responsible.
When Tina Herrmann failed to turn up to her shift at the Dairy Queen in Apple Valley, Ohio in November 2010 her manager Valerie Haythorn became suspicious.
Calls to the family home went unanswered and so she alerted the police.
Twenty-four hours passed and Ms Herrmann, 32, had still not appeared at work, so Ms Haythorn went to the family home and entered via an open window.
There she found blood in the bath and sinks, oil on the carpet and furniture smashed so she called the police.
On 10 November 2010, Matthew Hoffman had entered the home of Ms Herrmann via an open garage door intending to burgle the property. He had been camping out nearby and waiting for the family to leave the house.
However, Ms Hermann returned shortly afterwards with her son 11-year-old Kody Maynard and a friend Stephanie Sprang.
Caught off guard, Hoffman attacked and fatally stabbed Ms Herrmann, Kody Maynard, and 41-year-old Ms Sprang.
Kody Maynard, Tina Herrmann and Stephanie Sprang (l-r) (Photo: First Look TV/Channel 5)He also kidnapped a 13-year-old girl and took her and the three bodies to his home in in Clinton Township, south of Mount Vernon.
There he kept the girl bound and gagged in the basement and dismembered the three bodies.
Placing the remains in rubbish bags, he drove to Kokosing Lake Wildlife Area near Fredericktown, north of Mount Vernon and hid them inside a hollowed out tree.
When detectives searched the Herrmann’s family garage, they found a Walmart receipt for duct tape, rubbish bags and rope.
A review of Walmart’s security footage revealed the man who purchased the items was unemployed tree surgeon Hoffman.
Police raided Hoffman’s home on 14 November and found a living room piled high with thousands of leaves.
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The walls of some of the other rooms, including the bathroom, were also lined with bags of leaves. Officers discovered two dead squirrels in the freezer.
And in the basement, they located the 13-year-old girls bound and gagged but still alive and lying on a bed made from bags of leaves.
Four days later on 18 November, Hoffman disclosed where he had hidden the remains of the three victims on the understanding officers would not harm the tree.
Hoffman was arrested and taken into custody. Meanwhile, the hunt continued for Ms Herrmann, her son and her friend.
Where is Matthew Hoffman now?
Hoffman was charged in January 2011 with the murder of Tina Herrmann, her son Kody Maynard and her friend Stephanie Sprang during a burglary on 10 November 2010.
The then 30-year-old was also charged with the rape and kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl.
He pleaded guilty to 10 counts in total, including aggravated murder, burglary, kidnapping and rape at a court in Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Bruce Malek, Hoffman’s lawyer, said at the time that his client apologised and had decided not to speak in court because he “did not feel that he would be able to make even a short statement without breaking down”.
Hoffman had previous convictions for arson and burglary and had served a six-year prison sentence in Colorado.
Sentenced to life in prison without parole, he is currently being held at the Toledo Correctional Institution.
Prosecutors did not pursue a death sentence for Hoffman, at the request of the victims’ families.
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